Not Quite
by tsurikato
Summary: She's not a maid with a horrible family. She doesn't have a fairy godmother. So, when did Prince Roxas come in the picture? FINALLY UPDATED.
1. Inspirational

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, it wouldn't exist. I'm not that creative enough to create something as genius as Kingdom Hearts.

I tried so hard to think of some sort of plot so I could write a KH2 fic. Did I come with one anytime soon? No, until I decided to listen to some Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella (the one with Brandy and Whitney Houston) songs.

At the moment, I felt like doing a Roxas x Namine because that's my OTP. Sora x Kairi is my second OTP. (smiles) Then I could imagine Kairi as Whitney Houston and Namine as Brandy because I'm a loser like that.

Then, I crack up.

I can't believe I missed something so simple like a parody. Music equals love.

Anyways, in the song Impossible, the bass is incredibly catchy. XD

* * *

_They told me that there was a man coming to town. Who is he?_

_Oh! You do not know of him? Why, he's the salvation! The end to all of our sadness!_

_What sadness? What are you talking about? I thought we were perfectly happy...

* * *

_

The story of Cinderella (the more innocent version) goes along the lines of a daughter who loved her father. Her father remarried but died soon after, and the care of child was left to the stepmother and her two stepsisters. Their cruelty was revealed as they made Cinderella provide for them. She had to wash the dishes, mop the floors, cook the food, and most everything in between. 

The stepmother was most unkind. She did not care about the welfare of Cinderella and expected her to make everything spotless. Her stepsisters were almost just as bad. They were snobby and rude, and they did not like to concern or compare themselves to the lowly position they had forced upon Cinderella. The difference between the two stepsisters is how the younger one is more pitiful and compassionate, often telling Cinderella some things were not needed whereas the elder one spat at her.

There was an announcement throughout the kingdom that the prince was holding a ball to find a bride. The other women went…but Cinderella did not. With her tears, her fairy godmother was summoned, and she was able to go to the ball in some sort of "disguise." She even gave the girl a pair of glass slippers! However, she must come back at the stroke of midnight.

Her and the prince encountered each other and fell in love dancing in the moonlight. But alas! The clock struck twelve, and Cinderella had to leave the prince. Soon enough, her disguise wore off, and all she left behind was a small glass slipper. Ironically, Cinderella had the smallest feet.

The prince declared a frantic search in the kingdom for the woman he fell in love with. With the glass slipper she left behind his only clue, he had to do the searching the long way: try and fit the shoe in every eligible woman in the kingdom. Cinderella was not aware of this search for word doesn't travel to her as fast until she goes to the marketplace. What she didn't expect was her stepmother to find out so quickly about her appearance at the ball. She locked poor Cinderella in the cellar, and Cinderella tried desperately to get out.

Unfortunately, the time that she was locked in, the prince had stopped by their house. The stepsisters argued over the shoe, the stepmother did nothing, and the prince was starting to lose all hope.

One way or another, Cinderella had managed to get out of the horrid cellar. She heard the commotion downstairs and raced towards the main room in the house to find the prince. "WAIT! WAIT!" She shouted. She wanted to show the prince, her family, _everyone_ that she wasn't just a normal girl. They had tried the shoe on her, and it fit perfectly.

The prince had found his true love, and they lived happily ever—

"TEACHER!"

Mrs. Xavier looked up from her storytelling to find little Namine Erthrael, age seven in her second grade class, raising her hand. Her face reflected one of deep thought and annoyance.

"Yes, Namine?" Mrs. Xavier called. Namine Erthrael had a reputation of thinking into things in a practical way, and it was surprising whenever she spoke out of no where to say something. Most of the time, she enjoyed playing with the redhead, Kairi Constell, and she Kairi was the one who spoke out for her.

"That story defies reality!" she proclaimed. Mrs. Xavier wondered whether seven year olds knew reality. "Wouldn't the father have left some sort of will? And how did Cinderella get out of that cellar without breaking the door? Wouldn't the prince or anyone in the house hear the cellar breaking and try to see what the commotion is? And if the prince had common sense, why didn't he just **ask** for her name? And if he ordered a search of all the women in the kingdom, it would have taken MONTHS just going through all those women!"

Ah, yes. Mrs. Xavier forgot that Namine tended to tower over dreams and trample them.

* * *

**11 years later…**

"Oi!" Hayner called, slamming Namine's door open. Her room was blinded by white and reflected the pure simplicity of a life like Namine's.

Too bad Namine found her life too boring to be simple.

"Haven't I taught you how to knock?" The 18-year-old blonde scolded, stopping her painting with irritation. She was on a roll too! Her inspiration fluttered away like a butterfly. (For some reason, there was a butterfly right outside her window.) Namine, now fully blossomed (although she still complains about the size of her bust), had her hair oddly styled. One side was longer than the other and over her shoulder, whereas the other side barely went past her shoulder. Her blue eyes sparkled with whatever emotion they held, and she had a habit for wearing simple dresses that you could wear anywhere: outside or inside. That's…basically anywhere, right?

Hayner ignored her question. "Go shopping for fruits and vegetables," he said, walking inside the room. "We ran out yesterday, and Riku and I have to go out today to prepare for Kairi's show tonight. Speaking of her, why don't you bring her along?"

"…and she's not going to help with the preparations?" Namine raised an eyebrow. Kairi Constell was partially famous in the Kingdom Hearts for her singing voice. However, the only place she ever worked at was the bar/restaurant owned by Tifa Lockhart called "7th Heaven. There she does gigs and sings while earning money to put food on her table.

Hayner shrugged. "She said to knock ourselves out. Kairi mentioned how she's a bit busy in the afternoon, but she should be done around this time." He ruffled his stepsister's hair and walked away. "You should start shopping now."

Namine stood up, her chair making a loud, obnoxious noise. She quickly glanced at her painting, her blue eyes reflected the mourn she had for the lost time she would have and ran after the boy…man… "Hayner!" she yelled, having to step outside her white room and into the hallway of the small house. Said brother looked behind him. "Do I **look** like Cinderella to you?"

"…The blonde hair doesn't count?"

"I hate you!"

"Have fun shopping!"

* * *

Namine was no Cinderella.

In fact, she loathed that fairy tale ever since she was seven.

Her two stepbrothers (who were stepbrothers themselves) were in no way considered as evil as the evil stepmother in the story. The only evil they could get to was how they easily get protective of Namine when it came to boys. She was not a servant in any way, nor did she succumb to the "evil" bidding of Riku and Hayner, both of whom were 19. The truth of the matter was: Namine is spoiled. She even admits it, and she loves being the youngest. But reality has to sink in somewhere, and Namine is trying her best not to live as dependently as she used to.

She did not have animal friends. Instead, most of her feelings poured out in her art through her flute and through her paintings.

And most certainly she did not fall for Kingdom Heart's prince. Kingdom Hearts, by the way, is the name of the whole entire kingdom. The original royal family were known for their hearts as pure as gold, so they suggested something along the lines of the Hearts Kingdom or the Kingdom of Hearts. For some reason, every time the name was mentioned, the newborn baby would cry. So, they just called it Kingdom Hearts since it sounded strangely better.

Stupid and silly, like a true fairy tale.

"So, what are we supposed to buy again?" Kairi asked.

Kairi Constell was a lovely lady, high in social class by earning her way through. She was not married, but she was a respected entertainer. Her beauty was unmatched; her eyes were entrancing, and her figure one that lures in the eyes of men.

However, her image in not the same as her personality is. It tends to surprise people.

"Um…fruits and vegetables, preferably some lettuce, carrots, apples, and oranges. Riku hates tomatoes, and Hayner isn't too fond of bananas." Namine explained. Kairi nodded, and her eyes scanned readily around the marketplace.

As in…eyes searching for any lechers that might come her way.

"So, Namine," Kairi smirked, "I watched Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella yesterday."

Namine rolled her eyes, managing to catch sight of a booth with vegetables on display. "Hey, Seifer!" She called and saw the blonde man turn around. Seifer, self-proclaimed womanizer and East-side defender (his dad was chief of police of the section), turned around to see the little sister of his rival. Hayner liked to call him a vigilante; he had no legal right to actually punish people. It surprised almost everyone that Hayner even knew the word. "Can you get me some food please?" Seifer always seemed to know what everyone needed.

"It was the one with Brandy and Whitney Houston!" Kairi exclaimed, attempting to get Namine's attention.

"If it's for your idiot brother, then watch out if the food's rotten," Seifer warned, handing the light-haired girl a few bags.

Namine didn't take the bags from his hands. "Just because my brother hates you and vice-versa doesn't mean everyone else has to suffer," Namine pouted.

Seifer shrugged, taking a quick glance at her friend. "Well, it ends up like that. By the way, I think Miss Constell has gone missing."

"What?" Namine looked to the last side that she knew Kairi was bothering her, and true to his word, Kairi was gone. "Crap. Thanks Seifer!" She bade goodbye, took the bags, and walked swiftly in search for the redhead.

Sure, Kairi was patient and kind. Sure, Kairi had a kind soul and a smile that would reassure all. But when it came to Namine, who was Kairi's friend for life, Kairi was _more_ than patient and kind with a kind soul and a wonderful smile.

She was the bully.

The bully from back in kindergarten haunts Namine through the form of Kairi as an 18-year-old woman. They were still best friends, of course, but Kairi absolutely **loved** to tease Namine. And when Namine would ignore her, Kairi would often walk away, singing to herself.

Like the bully did.

"OK, operation FINDKAIRI commences!" Namine muttered to herself. "Ready, troops? _Yessir!_" She had managed to pull off a Chip n' Dale voice and started to run around looking for the singer while humming a James Bond theme.

The scenery of the marketplace whizzed by her, and Namine felt like she was gliding instead of running. She wanted to close her eyes and get caught up in the wind, to just blow away somewhere peaceful. She could imagine a large meadow with tall grass that tickled your legs. The sun shone with some clouds in the sky, and the whole thing was just beautiful. And she would be lying down on the grass with another person, the tops of their heads touching each other's. They'd watch the clouds drift across the blue sky.

"_That one looks like a key!"_

"_No! It's like a blade!"_

"_Keyblade? How silly!"_

And she would never see his face.

His face was the one that Namine wanted to paint, the face of the boy who appeared in her dreams.

"OOF!"

Only the "spilling-of-the-groceries-on-the-floor" part wasn't in the dream.

_Crap…looks like the lettuce actually has the chance of getting spoiled now._ Namine thought worriedly.

"Shoot!" the person she bumped into exclaimed. "Here, let me help!" Namine saw hands picking up the various objects inside the bag that fell out and felt a wave of germophobia come over her. "I'm so sorry, I swear, I'll pay you back for all the food that fell on the floor."

Namine helped herself up and dusted some imaginary dust off of her. She felt slightly irritated, but it was only a simple accident. After all, he **did** just offer to pay for it. But she wouldn't accept the offer. After all, Seifer was a friend (who just didn't care about Hayner), and he often gave her discounts. "It's alright, really. You don't need to—"

She looked up, and suddenly, all her irritation went astray.

* * *

Kairi would like to describe herself as flawed.

She would like to describe herself as a human being, one who makes mistakes.

She would like it if everyone around her just would stop thinking that she was perfect!

Namine, the person she currently went astray from (she tended to do that…), was one of the only people who did not expect her to be so perfect. This expectation had led Kairi to letting her true self out, and they've been best friends since. One day, in a high school class, they had to write an essay about someone of their choice. Naturally, they had written about each other. If Kairi could remember, Namine had written something along the lines of…

"Kairi Constell is perfect. She has the perfect bosom any man could lay his eyes on. Her waist is flawlessly skinny, and her hips weren't bony but more like sexy than big. Her legs were long and attractive, and her face is extremely pretty. Her hair shines like the hot burning of a thousand suns, and her green eyes glimmer with innocence. She is kind and gentle, and she knows how to cook and does it well. She's intelligent, she's beautiful, and she's just perfect!

Of course, that's what everyone thinks. Everyone is too stupid to bother reading words in a book." **(1)**

Kairi had practically cried when she read the entire essay, and Namine started to yell at Kairi to stop crying and to get off of her. "No! I don't want anyone to think we're lesbian!" Namine jokingly cried when Kairi wouldn't let go of her. Riku and Hayner had busted in the room with wide eyes and stared in shock.

In the present, Kairi was wandering around the marketplace, hoping to find her friend and apologize for running away again. She was singing to herself, softly, something that sounded like "We Could Be in Love."

"_Anyone who's seen us knows what's goin' on between us/no, it doesn't take a genius to read between the_—oh! What is this?"

Kairi hid behind a stand and stuck her head out of one of the corners enough so her eyes can see what was happening.

Oh yes, she had found her best friend. But her best friend was talking to a person that Kairi absolute **knew** who he was. She's seen his face a bunch of times, and that hairstyle was unmatched by any!

"I wonder why the prince is running around in commoner's clothing," Kairi wondered slyly.

From afar, a boy who looked the same age as Kairi watched her in intrigue and fascination.

* * *

The boy sincerely hoped that this girl wasn't another fan girl. His cousin had even tried so hard to help him in commoner clothes (which he found a **lot** more comfortable), and his identity was already revealed.

Sure, they were just on their way to the marketplace just to travel for the hell of it. They do that. They're teenage guys. Do I sound stereotypical? I apologize, but I digress. They hid their horses somewhere in a stable where no one would be sure to recognize them (he's hoping his horse doesn't smell like dung when he gets him, though). They even bothered to split up so they can get various items.

All that trouble they had to go through just drops dead on the floor.

"You're…"

The boy in front of her stiffened. _Ohshitohshitohshitohshit…_

"…familiar."

_There **is **a god! _Namine wondered inwardly why he had sighed in relief.

She also didn't know the reason why the second she looked in his azure eyes, she could feel nothing.

Nothing but pure peace.

His hair was in a strange but unique hairstyle: spiked but it all went in one direction, like it was being blown in the wind, only there was no wind. It was a darkish blonde, definitely darker than hers, but it seemed to gloss in the sunlight. His appearance seemed too extravagant…too handsome to be put in commoner clothes.

"I'm Namine," she introduced, taking all of her bags in one hand so the other was free. She stuck the free hand out to shake his hand and gave him a rather shy smile. Something was going weird. If it was usual Namine, she would just go on to her normal way and say a soft, "It's ok" to the person and just **leave**. But right now, normal Namine wasn't active. In fact, she was probably sleeping from being awake for the entire day. No, this Namine…

…was an **unknown** one.

The sound of it makes me shiver.

She can hear the sound of Kairi's laughter from afar. Oh, she didn't know how _right_ she was.

"…Roxas," he replied, taking her soft hand and shook it with a small smile. He was surprised at how small and velvety her hand was, but he hasn't shaken hands with any girl in quite a while. He was hoping she didn't recognize his name, either.

But, to his surprise, she didn't react to his name.

"…I'm afraid you might have dirtied the backside of your dress," Roxas commented, noting her simple white dress and the slightly dusty road. He was hoping his father would do something about the roads and make it concrete to get rid of all the dirt, but he didn't take much action in it. Apparently, the whole kingdom was content with the roads.

Namine waved her hand. "I'll just wonder why people would bother to look at my ass anyway," she chuckled, and they both laughed good-naturedly. _If we leave in opposite directions, I wonder if he's going to look behind him to actually look at it anyway._ The thought had only prolonged her laughter. "Hmm…Roxas, you know, there is a way you can pay me back."

The other blonde raised an eyebrow, and one corner of his lips curled into a half-smile. "How so?"

"Go to the 7th Heaven bar on the outskirts of East Side tonight," she told him. "My best friend is having a performance tonight, and I'd like you to see it. How about that?"

Roxas had to think about it. His eyes wandered up, and they moved from right to left in a thinking mode. "That should be great," he said with finality and another smile. "When's the performance?"

"She's going to start around 7. I'll see you there?"

"You bet."

"Great! I should go now to look for my friend, so see you tonight!"

They both bade each other good-bye and went on their way, both of them blushing after they had turned a corner.

Apparently, Roxas _did_ look at Namine's backside…and she saw him do it.

* * *

Roxas Hatsu sat on his brilliant ebony horse with a dazed look on his face. He and his lovable cousin, Sora Hatsu, were riding on their way back to the castle until he slowed down to an abrupt stop, lost in his thoughts. Oblivion, a horse who he shared a strong companionship with, had sensed his inactivity and slowed down to a stop, waiting for Roxas's command.

"Hey, Roxas," Sora called, who was a few feet ahead of him. He hadn't realized Roxas stopped until half of the noise had disappeared. "What's up?"

"The sky," his blonde cousin replied wearily, and Sora chuckled.

"You still thinking about that Namine girl?" the spiky brunette asked, his identical blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "You were thinking about her gorgeously styled gold hair, her blue eyes that held whatever emotion she felt, her simple pearl dress—"

"Where the hell did you get that!" Roxas intervened with a blushing face. "I never knew you were so poetic!"

Sora sighed. "Actually I'm not. Some authoress who thinks she owns the universe told me to say it just so I could make you blush."

"You're crazy."

He shrugged. "I never said I was normal."

Roxas shook his head and laughed. "What I don't get is how she didn't even recognize me. My face, my name, nothing came to her. All she said was I looked familiar…but that's it!" At this point, both of them had commanded their horses to move at a content pace, and both horses had done what they were told. Hearing Roxas's slight distress, Oblivion whinnied. He stroked his mane in comfort.

"Aw, don't worry there, Oblivion," Sora soothed, "Roxas is just angry at how a girl didn't jump him like all the other ones." Sora's silver stallion, Oathkeeper, whinnied as a sign of hearty laughter. Oblivion and Roxas had glared at the laughing pair. "Well, maybe she doesn't want anything to do with the government and doesn't bother even knowing the names of her own rulers."

"Understandable," Roxas commented. "There are plenty of people in this kingdom that only know the surname of the royal family and not the first name. That's why I didn't even tell her my last name."

"Oh yeah! How could I forget that old lady on the corner street," Sora thought out loud. Roxas had glared at Sora yet again.

There was an incident where Sora and Roxas ended up getting lost somewhere in a district that knew the face of the prince very well. They had encountered an old lady on the street and asked if she knew the exit. They ended up doing her grocery shopping and being called Tim and Fro for the next three hours. After all, they _did_ have to serve their kingdom. In the end, they had figured out that the lady didn't even know the faces of the royal family. When they finally left the district, they argued who was Tim and Fro considering neither of them wanted to be called Fro.

"I still think you were Fro," Roxas said.

"HEY!" Sora yelled, and it was Roxas and Oblivion's turn to crack up at the other two.

"So, you have any plans tonight, Sora?" Roxas asked as they neared the premises of the castle.

"Why do you ask, oh dear cousin-prince of mine?" Sora inquired, being exaggerated and disguising his voice with something that sounded like a cross between a professional butler and a little girl on sugar.

"We're going to watch a show at a restaurant called 7th Heaven," Roxas replied with a sly smirk.

On their way back home, Kairi smiled as if she had a secret. Namine tried prying it out of her, but the dark redhead refused to say anything.

"It's better if you didn't know!" Kairi protested with a huge Cheshire cat grin.

* * *

As soon as she returned to her home, Namine had sat herself down in front of her painting and put it aside. _I'll continue it later._ She thought to herself.

Inspiration had struck her, and her hands found that they just couldn't get away from the desire of drawing Roxas's face.

* * *

**(1)** ok. First of all, if anyone ever wrote that in an essay, they'd probably fail. I know I would. SO! When she says "too stupid to read words in a book," I mean that they're always looking at the cover and impressed by it and the summary in the back. No one bothers to really read it until like…later.

Yes. Weird first chapter, I know. But I hoped you liked it. I tried to incorporate **some** sort of humor in it, but all my humor is full of sick, perverted jokes.

Ooh, the woe of sitting with a bunch of guys during lunch…guys in their hormonal stages. Gah. Especially if you're the only girl, and you have to explain to your friends why you incidentally have a mood swing…everyday…

SO ANYWAYS. I really hoped you like the first chapter. XD took a bit out of me, considering I write/type best during the night than the morning.

Read and review please!


	2. So Where Was He?

**FF FANS! SLIGHT WARNING:**

The pairings that include the KH2/FF7 characters are Aerith x Cloud and Tifa x Vincent. Yes, I love the second pairing very much. It's a minor pairing, so if you stop reading now, then you're just weird. (Naturally I'm saying that because I want review. T.T please keep reading.)

Also note that some Yuffie x Leon will be developing throughout the story as a supporting couple. I will actually keep the canon couples for FFX and one for FF8, though, so it would be Selphie x Irvine, Tidus x Yuna, and Wakka x Lulu (although the most latter one hasn't developed yet XD). And please remember that everyone has aged! Other than the already-old-ones because they probably just stay the same age so I can make them look young. :D

AND YES. Olette x Hayner fan hither! XD

THANKS SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! Honestly, I didn't expect 8 reviews on the first chapter. You all really made my day!

I dedicate this chapter to my brother…for figuring out the problem to why my wireless keyboard wasn't connecting.  
It needed new batteries.

* * *

_So why are you late?_

_Do you know how **long** I have waited for you? _

_How many agonizing hours I gave up waiting for someone like you?_

* * *

"Hey! Namine!" Riku called from the back, carrying a snare drum that was part of Tidus's drum set. "Stop dancing on the stage and help us out over here!"

Namine, pretending to do a sort of solo-version of a waltz, blushed and pouted cutely.

Kairi smirked. "Are you practicing dancing with a prince, Cinderella?" she teased, putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward with a wide grin. She had plugged in the microphone to the large speaker that was somewhere next to the drum set.

Namine jumped down from the stage and checked to see if her sketchbook was in place before turning to her best friend. "I'm not Cinderella, Kairi, and I'd hate to dance with a prince."

Hayner nodded in approval after setting the bass drum down. "Good. Riku and I won't let you."

The redhead singer rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't be too sure of that…" She muttered and chuckled when she saw Olette reprimanding Namine's stepbrother. Kairi started to do some quiet warm-ups for her vocal chords. "SO GUYS!" She yelled, calling everyone's attention. "Tonight is Utada Hikaru night! Rejoice!"

"Yay." Came everyone's droning answer.

Kairi rolled her azure eyes once more and took out a notepad, gesturing Namine to come stand next to her. Namine was the self-proclaimed manager of Kairi's artistic talent, and the redhead just went along with it. "Uh…the first number will be—Simple and Clean! Yes, Selphie, the English one with the tune of Hikari. No, we will not do the Japanese one just because you like it better."

"Tidus on drums, as usual," Namine said, gesturing towards the dirty-blonde with hair that slightly went out to the sides. "I heard your girlfriend was coming tonight?"

Tidus blushed. "Yuna? Yeah, she said she was coming…"

"With Lulu!" Wakka exclaimed cheerily, his smile chipper and hair as weird and orange as ever.

"Uh…Pence, you take electric piano on this one," Kairi said, writing a little something on the paper. "This Simple and Clean version is the remix one, so I'm going to need a lot of sound effects, so that means you're on the second electric piano, Riku."

"Gotcha," the silver-haired handsome 19-year-old said, giving her a thumb up.

"Wakka, you know how to handle the microphone effects. Selphie, Namine, and Olette, you're back-up, like always—"

"You know, that sounds SO wrong!"

"—and that's it!"

Selphie muttered something darkly about complaining to Irvine about this. Olette chuckled and told Selphie something about her hiding behind Irvine's back all the time because he's so damn tall.

"Second song is Keep Tryin'! Same positions as usual, not a lot of change, and Hayner, you're going to have to change the number on the electric piano to get the right effect, so watch out. Third song would be Passion!"

Selphie and Hayner erupted in cheers.

"This song is **big** on sound. Riku and Olette, you're both on the electric piano. Hayner, you're going to be electric guitar ("YES!"), Pence, you're on bass guitar (He smiled widely), and Selphie, you're the back vocalist. Wakka, remember to lower her mic a bit," Namine explained, pointing to each person as she called them.

"Namine!" Olette called out, raising her hand as if she was still in school. "I was supposed to be another vocalist since the song kind of depends on the harmony in the chorus."

Kairi nodded in agreement, and Namine shrugged. "OK, sorry Riku-niichan, but you're going to be alone on this one. You think your fingers can work fast?"

Riku smirked. "They always do."

"Ooh! Riku!" Tidus squealed playfully, his voice going high-pitched to imitate a girl's. "That sounded so…_kinky_!" All the "men" in the room chuckled.

"Fourth song is WINGS! Yay!"

Hayner wrinkled his nose. "No! I have to play **flute**!"

"We were getting to that!" Namine poked at him. "Riku, you're going to have to move from the electric piano to the baby grand piano that Cloud and Vincent should be rolling in with soon. I play higher-octave and melody on the flute, and Hayner, you're playing harmony. ("AUGH!" "Oh shut up, you big baby.") Tidus, drum set, Wakka, you should be…second percussion since there's not a lot of mic or effect going on. Pence, you're on bass again. Sorry, Olette, but you're stuck on the electric piano with the fake-orchestra. There will be a mic in front of you, so you'll still be able to sing."

Olette shrugged for she was content with what she had. At least she still sang. Although she wondered why she couldn't just put the microphone in front of her for Passion…

"And the last song!" Kairi announced, and the whole room of late-teenagers burst in loud cheers. "It's Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro!" More cheers. "We want to leave the audience crying with this song, so Riku; you're on the baby grand again. Hayner, you get to play the authentic guitar that Aerith made Cloud buy you for Christmas. ("Life is GOOD!") We actually have real instruments, so Olette and Pence, your violin and cello sk33lz are needed in this area. Namine and Selphie, you're the vocalists. Wakka, if you want to, you can try and add extra harmony with the sound effects. Uh…Tidus, there's…no drums in here."

"What!" Tidus exclaimed, and he grimaced while scratching the back of his head. "Aww damn, I wanted to play."

"Aww, that's okay, you poor baby," Riku mushed, taking Tidus's cheek and pinching it.

"Auugh! Shtop! That hurtsh!"

"So, is everyone ready for tonight?" Kairi yelled.

"YEAH!" Everyone yelled harmoniously.

_Hey, Namine,_ the blonde thought to herself, her eyes glancing on her sketchbook in her hands, _are you ready for your guest tonight?_ She sighed and rubbed the curve her shoulder where neck and shoulder met. _Why are you so nervous?_

"Hey guys," a low voice called, snapping Namine out of her little dreamland.

"GASP! Cloud! It's the baby grand!" Kairi squealed excitedly and practically bounced over to the piano, marveling at the wonderful sound but cute size. An even taller man, taller than the spiky blonde, walked in, his long ebony hair flowing and his red garments looking as if it matched his personality.

"…We had trouble finding it," he seemed to say after a few minutes of silence. It looked like he didn't want to talk a lot.

"That's alright," Riku waved off, smiling at the new bright sound the piano emitted. "At least you got it, right, Vincent?" The silent man did not respond, but everyone expected that.

Olette watched silently with interest when she saw Namine stare off into space, looking dazed. **(1)

* * *

**

"A day in the life of Prince Roxas Hatsu!" Sora exclaimed loudly, making the sound echo through the empty hallway. Roxas, who was next to him, winced. "Marvel at the wonderful—" 

"—boring—"

"—castle he lives in! The authenticity of every item—"

"—I heard mom say it was fake—"

"—in here is grand! The portraits wonderfully—"

"—non-proportional."

Sora glared at his cousin. "Can you at least lighten up?" he asked, his lips upturned. "It's almost six, so you can relax."

Roxas sighed. "Sora, it takes a whole hour just to get to the actual bar. We might end up being late if this meeting with my mom takes too long."

"You shouldn't get too anxious, or else the whole might end up not being as fun as you thought it was!"

Roxas sighed. Only Sora would describe it as fun.

Recently, his personal guard and friend, Squall Leonhart ("Just Leon."), told him that his mother, queen of Kingdom Hearts, was seeking his presence. Roxas had asked what for, and Leon grunted mid-range. That meant he didn't know.

"I wonder what Auntie has to talk about though," Sora wondered out loud, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. "You think it could be something coming of age?"

Roxas shivered as he opened the large doors to the throne room. "I have a feeling it is."

* * *

"Hey, Namine!" Riku called from his seat in front of the piano. Namine looked up from her drawing and raised an eyebrow. "Can you come over here and play _First Love_ with your flute?" 

Namine closed her sketchbook and laid it on the table next to her flute case. She opened up the case and connected each part and went over to where the ebony baby grand was. "Tune me," she said, holding the flute to her lips. Riku played a B-flat, and Namine imitated. The sound flowed out of the silver instrument.

Riku hummed. "Push the mouthpiece in," he replied. **(2)** Namine did as she was told and played the same note again, the sound coming out as smooth as silk.

"So, why do I have to play First Love?" Namine asked. There was no need for the actual sheet music for her since she had already memorized the music a while ago. Kairi had asked her to.

"Tifa told Vincent to tell Kairi to tell me to tell you that—"

"—wait what?"

The silver-haired man chuckled. "Tifa said that we needed six numbers, not five, to make it even. Between the third and the fourth number would be a ten-minute break since we want to make this little 'concert' of Kairi's more than thirty minutes," he replied. "The total length of all the songs only adds up to a little more than twenty minutes, so she wanted to prolong it." **(3)**

"So, you want me to play First Love as the third number?" Namine asked, clutching her flute.

"Yes sir," Riku replied.

Namine shrugged. "Okay then, I'll try it out." She lifted the flute up to her lips again as the two siblings practiced. Their sound mixed together, creating a near-perfect instrumentalist piece.

In the back, Vincent unconsciously hummed the melody with the flute.

* * *

"Hey, mom," Roxas greeted casually as he neared closer to the queen on the throne. 

"Hi Auntie!" Sora said. The queen, Rina Hatsu, tried to keep a straight face to show that she was going strict, but her mouth failed her and cracked a small smile.

"Roxas, Sora," she addressed, "you know that when I sit on this throne, it is not proper etiquette to call me 'mom' or 'Auntie'. I prefer 'ma'am' while I sit on my seat of power."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Superiority complex?" he asked.

"Naturally," Queen Rina replied.

"Why did you call Roxas over, ma'am?" Sora inquired, his hands still behind his head. His eyes wandered around the throne room, often wondering why he never really noticed the other details to it. (Probably because he was paying more attention to the king or queen on the throne when they used to reprimand him.) The throne room itself was extremely tall in height. The pillars on each side of the room that supported the ceiling were huge and intimidating, each one made of marble and striking a small fear for it might fall on you if it ever collapsed. The floor was made of a more reflective marble for it was like a mirror; you could see your face on the floor with an extra sheen on it. A red carpet starting from the tip of the door ended underneath each throne, making an odd T shape. The thrones were heightened by the small set of stairs leading to them. The two large thrones reserved for the king and the queen were on the highest level. The second level, one throne on each side of the monarch-reserved thrones, were slightly smaller and less superior thrones reserved for other kinds of royalty like a princess or prince. More thrones would be custom-made and added if there were more in the family or a new addition.

Queen Rina Hatsu sat on the left throne from Roxas and Sora's view, and the seat next to her was empty.

"Roxas," she started slightly solemnly, "you know of your father's diminishing health, do you not?"

The blonde nodded grimly, knowing the topic was slightly sensitive to his mother's.

"I am…disappointed to only bear one child, even though you, Roxas, was everything that your father wanted," Rina said. "There would have been more possible heirs to the throne, and the responsibility of being future king of Kingdom Hearts wouldn't be automatically burdened on you." **(4)**

Roxas shrugged. "It can't be helped, I guess. There's always Sora," he said, pointing to the brunette next to him.

Rina laughed heartily. "Sorry, my darling nephew, I apologize, but I don't think you are fit for the job to be king."

Sora sighed heavily. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you don't have to keep reminding me," he murmured, scratching the back of his neck with flushed cheeks. The number of times that Sora was found hiding in the large, flat vases in the hallways from adults was infinite, and mini-Roxas would always ask him why he would hide from the adults. "Because they're not fun!" Sora would sulk.

"Going back on topic—"

"—there was a topic?" Sora interrupted. He was met by his aunt's glare.

"As I was saying," she coughed, "your father's health is, unfortunately, decreasing. He is aware that he will only be able to live another two years, and that is his limit." Roxas's eyes slightly glazed over. "So, we have both agreed that you must produce an heir…within this year."

Roxas choked on his spit, and Sora gaped.

"I'm sorry, I think I might be going delirious, but did I just hear you say, 'produce an heir within this _year_'?" Roxas grimaced.

"I don't think you're the only one going delirious, man," Sora said to his cousin.

Rina glared at the two again. "Both of you, stop acting so immaturely. You both are already coming of age (Roxas cringed at the phrase), and surely there are willing, suitable women out there who want to bear the next ruler of Kingdom Hearts."

Roxas moved his mouth, but no coherent words came out of it. "I'm 19!" He managed to choke out. "I…I thought that we weren't supposed to have sex until after 21!"

"That's actually _after_ marriage," Sora whispered to his cousin.

"Age does not matter," Rina scoffed. "Years ago, women at age fifteen gave birth to children and lived. An eighteen-year-old woman will survive."

"Years ago, child-birth was one of the causes of death for women!" Roxas countered.

"Yet a few of them managed to live on with life," the queen continued. "It is a new era, son, and our medical technology has increased dramatically from our ancestors' knowledge. We will assure your future child will have a mother to raise him or her! Stop hiding behind your cowardice! You are a grown man, and you must learn to accept your responsibilities."

Roxas shut his mouth, knowing his mother was right. That was the case a majority of the time, anyways.

"Auntie," Sora interceded, breaking the awkward silence, "how will Roxas find a bride?"

Rina relaxed in her seat since she was so tense from the slight scolding. She leaned back and sighed. "There will be a masquerade ball in a month's time," she replied. "All women between the age of eighteen and twenty-two are eligible candidates for being chosen as a bride."

Roxas gulped. He hated balls. Masquerade just made it worse. "Who will choose the bride?"

The queen raised an eyebrow. "Why, you, of course."

* * *

"Mom is a lunatic—" 

"—a raving, mad, intelligent lunatic—"

"—who married my father—"

"—who is king of Kingdom Hearts—"

"—who actually _agreed_ to this ridiculous idea of a ball—"

"—masquerade ball."

Roxas looked at Sora with nervous eyes. "Did I ever tell you that I can't see people through their masks?"

Sora patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay, Roxas. You don't need to tell me," Sora said, offering a small grin. "I'm your cousin-best-friend, right?"

Roxas blinked and smiled shortly. "Thanks, Sora."

Sora smiled. They continued to walk down the long hallway in a comfortable silence. But then again, Sora was there. Comfortable or not, he could always break the silence. "I kind of miss old Auntie."

"Old Auntie?" Roxas asked incredulously. "Since when was mom old?"

"No!" Sora laughed. "Not like that! I mean…back then when she used to smile all the time, and when she cursed and everyone would stare at her, she wouldn't care." The two laughed at reminiscing the memories, their laughter slowly dying away.

"…Yeah." Roxas nodded and smirked sadly. "I miss her, too."

Sora half-smiled and his eyes wandered around the hall in boredom. They passed by the numerous suits of armor that were cleaned once every two weeks by the countless servants and maids in the castle, passed by the pillars and the large windows, the grandfather clock—

…Wait. Double-take on the grandfather clock.

"Sora?" Roxas called behind him, noticing his cousin had stopped walking beside him. "What's wrong?"

"Shit."

Roxas raised a brow. "Normally I wouldn't care, but you haven't said that word ever since that incident with mom and—"

"Roxas," Sora exclaimed, "it's fifteen after six."

The blonde's brain took a while to register the words that just came out of his cousin's mouth. As soon as they did, he slumped. "Shit."

* * *

An hour later, Namine went up to the front of the stage with her flute, looking around the room with anxious eyes. Riku, who was sitting on the stool for the baby grand, was awaiting her signal to start. 

There were almost no lights in the restaurant/bar, and the spotlight was radiating on the blonde girl.

_He's not here._ She thought. What attracted her to be so attentive to this boy she met in the marketplace?

But he promised he would come.

So where was he?

**

* * *

**

**(1)** That whole section could probably count as the filler of this chapter. It wasn't necessary, but it involved (attempted) characterization. And yes, that's one good thing about fillers: they work on characterization! That way, when you make a fanfic, you don't have to go OOC all over the place! LIKE ME!  
And don't you love how everyone's so…musical? XD  
**(2)** Well, I'm a band geek and proud. Apparently, people tell me I'm a good band geek; I can hear stuff and make music up. I play flute, so if it's off-tune you push the mouthpiece in or out to match whatever.  
**(3)** How did I add all this up? No, I did not use a calculator. I used iTunes. Mmm, I love iTunes.  
**(4)** Yes, these monarch people get to choose to be the ruler. Most of the time, they say yes out of honor.

WELL. That's chapter two! Hoped you enjoyed it. Yes, it is a lot shorter than chapter one, don't sue me. I need to work on my DNAngel fic, so cut me some slack. I haven't done multi-chapter fics for a few years already. Sigh.

No couple development yet, other than Roxas x Namine, the main one.  
I'm trying to incorporate a theme to each couple in this fic. Right now, I'll tell you that the SoKai's theme is "imperfection." The others will be revealed later on…or at the end, unless you get it.

AND YAY! I love history class now! (That's surprising.) So the whole "women-giving-birth-blah" was due to a discussion in class about how women in the 1700s and 1800s usually gave birth at young ages that most people would cringe at.

Hopes you enjoyed it! Read and Review please!


	3. I'll Take You Home

T.T All of you are so great, I swear.

The amount of story alerts and favorites are really flattering, and I'm just so grateful for all the reviews. Although I would stress that people review more so I can look forward to something when I need to feel better…but hey! Beggars can't be choosers. I finally figured out that quote a while ago and felt incredibly stupid.

FYI, hat future KH2 fic that I have might be posted as soon as I go really deeply into this fic.

Enjoy!

**Tsuri does not own Utada Hikaru songs. Tsuri does not own Kingdom Hearts. She's too stupid to understand the whole buying-of-property anyway.**

* * *

"Ohmigodi'mgonnakillanythingthatgoesinmyway."

Sora shook his head and sighed at his cousin, who was currently creating a very dark aura around him. It was a death aura that could rival the extreme exaggeration that Xemnas showed, and his exaggeration was like…**whoa**.

"The prince's secret keeper is one of the most important people in the royal court," Sora recited out loud, remembering what his Auntie told him. "Not only is he given the responsibilities of being the faithful companion to the prince, he also takes partial accountability for the prince's actions." Sora paused and looked at his cousin worriedly. "Can you at _least_ look a little bit happy when we go in? I don't want to take the blame for murder." He pleaded as they neared the entrance to the bar. "I mean, it's not like there was a coincidental DITCH in the middle of the road that stalled us for—"

"8 MINUTES!"

"…Yeah."

Well, we learn something new everyday. There's another reason why Sora hangs around Roxas all the time and vice-versa; Sora's Roxas's secret keeper!

More info of secret keepers will be revealed as this story goes on. AKA keep reading.

Roxas winced, knowing the discomfort he was putting Sora through. He sighed, hopefully all his anger going out along with the carbon dioxide. "Sorry, Sora," he said. "But I made a promise, and I wanted to keep it."

Sora opened the door, revealing a rather bright restaurant. "You promised Namine you'd be here, and here is where you are. Hakuna matata!"

Roxas sincerely hoped it was only intermission.

* * *

Tifa Lockhart looked around at her restaurant from the cashier perspective and smiled. Kairi was a big hit, and it was pretty much a full house.

_There's only room for two more people._ Tifa thought as her eyes scoured the room. "Oi, Cloud, yank up the AC a bit please? All this body heat is making me hot." Cloud turned to his long-haired friend and nodded, and he started his trek towards the thermostat.

"I wonder if there are…other things that make you 'hot.'"

Tifa whipped her head around to find the man in red staring down at her. Her face was slightly red from the comment and just a bit redder when she figured out it was him.

"Shut up, Valentine," she pouted, "I don't need your teasing."

His hand reached out and stroked her long dark brown tresses. "But you like it, nonetheless." His one eyebrow rose up, suggesting something rather…suggestive.

Her eyes narrowed, and the blush on her face got even redder. "Rot in hell."

Vincent rolled his eyes. "I've been there, and it was you who brought me back." Tifa didn't know whether that collar of his was a blessing or a curse because she loves seeing him smile, but when it was the kind of smile when she lost, well…

Someone coughed behind her.

Vincent smirked (you could see it in his eyes) at the annoyed, huffy face that Tifa made. It was only visible to him since her back was facing the front. Her eyes showed the definite "I-wish-I-didn't-have-this-job-sometimes" look. Vincent's eyes just said "we'll-have-fun-later."

Tifa turned around; her hair almost attacked the customer's face like it usually did when she was irritated. "Welcome to 7th Heaven, how may I—" Tifa stopped mid-sentence, her eyes squinting as she scrutinized oddly familiar person. "HOLY HELL YOU'RE—"

"SSSHHH!"

Tifa turned red again at the stares she was getting, and she swore she heard Vincent chuckle behind her.

Never mind Vincent, she was going to kill Wakka and Tidus who were laughing loudly…**at** her.

* * *

"What's going on?" Namine asked Tidus. She wasn't on the stage, and she didn't exactly feel like jumping on it, so she just asked from the lower level. It looked cute, if you thought about it. Her head was sticking out with her hands gripping the sides. Apparently, Namine didn't feel tall at the moment. She had to tip-toe with her clogs just to reach that kind of height.

The two pranksters looked towards Namine and made overdramatic shocked faces. "HOLY HELL, YOU'RE—!" Tidus mimicked in a high pitched voice. Wakka burst out in laughter again, and the blonde shook her head.

Riku walked over to the two, keeping his cool with a smirk on his face. You could even see the row of girls swooning one-by-one if he passed by. It was like the wave!

"Oi, you too," he called, giving Namine a small smile of acknowledgement, "Tifa says you guys better shut up or else she'll lower your pay."

Tidus and Wakka kept snickering.

"…by 80 percent."

"In the name of Ifrit, that's **preposterous**!" Tidus yelled, both of their laughing stopped.

Wakka stared at his companion weirdly, but you could still tell that he was worried about his salary. "Yo man, since when did you learn such a big word? Plus,Bahamut is so much more awesome than Ifrit."

Namine looked over to the cash register to where Tifa and Vincent were. The slight hope that it was her new friend diminished when she saw a woman in pink and a tall man whose broody face could almost rival Vincent's. He looked like he talked a lot more, though.

She sighed, trying her best to dismiss the fact that it seemed kind of weird to be anxious over someone you talked to for only five minutes. Namine turned to the Tidus and Wakka, who were arguing about Ifrit and Behemoth. "Both of you, shut up. I see Yuna and Lulu coming here."

"What? Where?" Both of them said in unison.

Riku shook his head. "Plus," he whispered in his step-sister's ear, "Ixion is better."

Namine's face wrinkled in disgust. "No way. Shiva rules all." Both of them laughed, and Namine hoped that it could numb the apprehension.

* * *

Cloud was just innocently standing there, his arms crossed and him leaning against the wall. His hair was perfectly spiked, his blue eyes closed, and his lower face looking warm in the safety of his scarf…even though it was the spring season.

He was trying to keep an image, he admitted. He didn't really want people to bother him. Vincent attempted to give words of advice on how to just look deadly, but it didn't help.

"Clooud," a feminine voice rang.

His eyes snapped open, recognizing the soft voice. He turned his head towards the source and found a green-eyed beauty's face…just too close.

He practically fell over.

The woman in pink giggled behind her hand. "Silly you," she murmured affectionately, holding out her hand. "I'm finally here, and you _still_ fall." Instead of a handshake, the woman was met by something else. Cloud grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, making the woman stumble onto his built body. He enveloped his arms around her petite frame.

The woman blushed lightly, but she smiled.

"Aerith," Cloud murmured in her ear, his tone of voice saying all the "I missed you"s she needed to hear.

* * *

"Hey, Leon," Tifa greeted, a half-smile gracing her lips. In front of her stood a man who had an affinity for tight jeans and short-sleeved jackets with some artificial fur on the collar.

And it made him look **good**.

A scar graced the middle of his face, running down from the bottom of his forehead, through the bridge of his nose, and ending somewhere near his eye. He grunted a whole step lower than his usual mid-range. That meant he said hi.

"Still taking care of the two brats?" Tifa asked and snickered slightly.

"Sadly yes," he replied and turned to the long-haired woman. "They're coming in right now, and I was supposed to be with them, but I didn't want to attract a lot of attention. Can you keep Roxas's profile on the down low? I don't want any—"

"—unnecessary trouble, gotcha," she finished for him, noticing two boys walking inside her restaurant. One had brown spiky hair, and the other used the white hood of his outfit to cover his hair and part of his face. They both looked around at the crowd, and Tifa could recognize the slightly surprised look on the brunette's face. "Wow! They certainly grew over the last…what, two or three years that I've seen them?" She commented.

Leon smirked. "Can't help it. It's a guy thing."

"Why have you come to visit?" Vincent asked, his presence forgotten until the second a word came out of his mouth.

Leon shrugged, his eyes showing a tint of annoyance about the whole situation. "Beats me. Blondie said he promised to see the show here to someone he met."

Tifa gasped overdramatically. "Roxy found a _girlfriend?_"

The teen with the hood over his head snapped towards the cashier to where Tifa, Leon, and Vincent were. Although the hood had helped to shade his face, you can still point out the blush that ran through his cheeks when he heard the words "Roxy" and "girlfriend" in a sentence. His companion snickered at his misfortune.

"…So, you going to give us seats or something?" Leon grunted.

"Sorry, Leon, but you're going to have to stand up."

"I'll find some extra chairs in the back."

"Ooh, thank you, Vincent!"

Leon just nodded his head as thanks between two men.

* * *

"Hey, Roxas," Sora said to his cousin, "I think yesterday's dinner is getting to me now. I'm going to the bathroom. Don't miss me."

Roxas made a face and chuckled. "Believe me, I won't." His cousin walked (or rather power-walked) over to the men's bathroom.

Luckily for Roxas, his hopes had come true. It really _was_ intermission, but that meant he missed the first batch of songs that Namine's friend had to offer. He felt slightly disappointed, but he quietly dismissed it. After all, he already knew the slightly famous name of Kairi Constell.

---

"_Tifa," a small Roxas called, whose hand was being held on to a younger looking Tifa Lockhart, "where are you taking me?"_

_His baby-sitter smiled mysteriously. "Your mom allowed me to take you out today," she replied, "so I'm taking you to meet a new friend!"_

_Roxas's nose wrinkled cutely. "Is this friend nice?"_

_Tifa looked over to the small child and her laughter rang through the air when she saw his face. They stopped walking, and Tifa went in front of the small boy. She crouched so she could meet his eye level. "If you're nice, then maybe your new friend will be, too." She smiled a beam that could rival Miss America's. "You know why?"_

_Roxas's face went into a cross between a pout and a jovial face. He hated saying it, but he was extremely proud of himself when he knew the answer. "Because as a prince, I have to be polite to the people of my kingdom!"_

_Tifa face-faulted and Roxas almost panicked. Then all of a sudden, she threw her head back in laughter. "Roxas, you silly boy!" she said, knocking his forehead a couple of times. "Your teachers don't teach you about karma, eh?" She stood up and took his hand as they started to walk again. "Guess they can't help it. You're only seven."_

_Roxas wrinkled his nose again. "What's karma, Tifa?"_

_Tifa winked at the small boy. He didn't understand at the time. "I'll teach you later, Prince Roxas." She grinned again. "You know why?"_

_This time, Roxas was **sure** of the answer. "Because you're Tifa, and you can!"_

_Tifa chuckled._

---

Roxas snapped out of his reverie by the crowd applauding. He looked up from his hood and saw a redhead on the stage, bowing to the people who were applauding her. Apparently intermission was over, and Kairi and her band were ready and raring to go.

"Hey, Roxas," someone whispered, and the prince turned to his left to see another spiky-haired blonde (this blonde's hair was much, much spikier and more gravity-defying) with a woman dressed in pink, her silky brown hair braided into one braid behind her back, "there's one available table for you somewhere in the middle. Don't attract attention, and I'll tell Sora where you are."

"Thanks, Cloud," Roxas whispered back and flashed a smile to Aerith, who returned with a giggle and a wave. He moved to table, hopefully not impeding anyone's vision of the main attraction in this room.

From somewhere on the side of the stage, Namine saw a figure move to an empty table for two. However, the light was so bright that everything was dark; she couldn't make out the color. However, in Kairi's point of view, she definitely knew who that person was.

If you asked some people in the audience about the best thing about Kairi, it was her smile. And her smile just got bigger.

"Psst…Roxy…"

Roxas turned his head slightly to the right and almost fell out of his seat.

"Yuffie!"

The small girl with short hair smiled mischievously. Kairi had started talking, announcing the next song to be Passion. "Haven't seen _you_ in a while, you punk," she whispered. "What do you want to drink?"

Roxas blinked and smirked. "Just water for Sora and me, thanks."

Yuffie Kisaragi nodded, and Roxas had the urge to laugh out loud when he saw her stealthily move through the chairs and tables while still crouching.

The vocals started, and Roxas shifted his eyes on the stage. A dirty-blonde boy was on the guitar, and another on the drums. He could spot two brunettes, one with layered hair and the other with curls, and Namine standing there with each of them having their own mic.

_Haven't heard you sing in a while, Miss Constell._ He thought to himself as Kairi started to vocalize.

---

_Tifa knocked on the door, Roxas's hand still latched on to hers. It was odd seeing a 7-year-old boy still latching on to a motherly-figure's hand and Roxas even objected to it once. Tifa only countered by the fact that it made her feel safe if she knew he was close by._

"_Well, I feel embarrassed," Roxas had pouted._

_They stood in front of a large house that was made of brick, but elegant vines encased a majority of the lower half of the house. On the first story were wide windows where the billowing curtains could be seen on the inside. On the second story were tall rather than wide windows, a couple of them slightly open to let in the wind since it was warm. The doors were oak and glossy, and the doorknob shone like gold. _

"_Nice house," Tifa commented. Roxas nodded his head in agreement. _

_The door opened slowly, revealing a tall man garbed in scarlet. His eyebrows raise, yet the expression in his eyes did not change. "Tifa," he greeted casually._

_Roxas, to tell the truth, was intimidated by the man. After all, he was wearing this high-collared shirt in eighty-degree weather, he was tall, and he looked **way** too dark and scary for his liking._

_Unfortunately for the little man, the tall one's eyes traveled down to where Roxas was. "You brought a rug rat," he noticed with a slight (if not, none) amusement. Tifa smirked._

"_You are oddly cruel to small children, Vincent," Tifa scolded. Vincent stepped aside and let the two in, and Roxas taking in the new scenery around him. Vincent closed the door and acted as a guide through the house as they went to their desired destination. _

"_It is only because I know he will never be as tall as me," he replied. "Prince or not, he is in my house now."_

_Roxas blinked. "Does your house always smell like cookies?" He asked innocently._

_Tifa giggled (more like chortled because I can't imagine Tifa giggling) when she saw Vincent's eye twitch. "That's Kairi's doing," he simply stated._

"_So, the little star**(1)** likes to infect the vampire's mind with sugary sweetness at the age of six?" The woman teased._

_Roxas gasped, his large eyes widening. "VAMPIRE?" he exclaimed, turning to Tifa with an incredulous look. "Mama told me that they didn't exist!"_

_Tifa went into, what most people would like to call, her 'fairy-tale' mode. Her eyes became starry, and her voice incredibly dynamic to match the story and exaggeration. "Did you know that this Vincent man sleeps in a coffin?" she told the boy and ignored the glare that the long-haired man shot her. Roxas gasped again. "He woke up fifty years ago when a group filled with idiotic men who were all muscle and no brain opened up his coffin and startled his sleep. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he said to them was…" Roxas leaned in wanting to hear more. "…'Bring me cookies.'"_

_Silence buzzed._

"…_Is the queen in her right mind to hire a 14-year-old girl like you to baby-sit their heir to the throne?" Vincent asked. _

_Tifa pouted. "I'm perfectly eligible, thank you very much, Mr. Just-Because-I'm-A-Qualified-Adult-I-Can-Actually-Take-Care-of-Little-Kids." Roxas knew his math well. He listened to his tutor in government, too, as much as he hated it. A "qualified adult" in Kingdom Hearts was counted as a person the age of eighteen. Since Vincent was eighteen and Tifa was fourteen, that made a four-year age gap between them. He smiled on the inside._

"_Mr. Vincent!" a small, high-pitched voice came from down the hallway. Vincent looked up, Tifa peeked out from the right, and Roxas looked out from the left. In front of the man was a small girl with short red-hair, her hands on her hips in a sassy way. Her lips were curled into a frown, and her eyebrows were curved down. She looked cute with her cheeks spotted with flour. "If you keep arguing with Miss Tifa, you might never stay with her when you're in college and you won't get married and have five kids that **I** can baby-sit when **I'm** older!"_

_Tifa blushed, but Vincent chose to ignore it. "What a long sentence," Roxas murmured to himself. The girl heard the small noise and turned to the head peeking out of Vincent's side. Blue eyes met blue, and she blinked in realization._

"_Mr. Vincent! Is this a new friend?" she exclaimed happily._

_The tall man used one hand to rub his temple and nodded. Tifa gestured the young boy to introduce himself._

_Roxas gulped and stepped up to her. They were about the same height, but Roxas was slightly nervous. He hasn't really "met" a girl his age, considering he was stuck in the palace most of the time. He stuck out his hand. "My name is Roxas Hatsu!"_

_The girl blinked, and bent down to look at the hand. This only confused the boy. She moved her upper torso to inspect it, left and right. She grinned and stood up correctly. _

_Unexpectedly, instead of accepting and shaking his hand, she just slapped it with her own. "I'm Kairi Constell, future wife of royal blood!" she introduced boldly, and little Roxas looked quite dumb standing there, not understanding what the hell the girl just said. _

_Tifa laughed at her greeting. _

"_I apologize, but I don't have any plans of marrying with you, Mr. Roxas," she stated._

_Tifa bent down to meet her eye level. "Why not?" _

_The little girl made a face of deep consideration. "His hair isn't spiky enough!"_

_This only puzzled Roxas even more._

---

The crowd rang with appreciation at the song, Roxas clapping along with them. Sora decided to get out of the washroom and sat next to his cousin, and he was greeted by the sound of applause and hoots and the sight of a tall glass of ice-cold water in front of him.

"Yosh!" He exclaimed and practically downed the drink.

"Brain-freeze," Roxas stated, and soon enough, Sora was suffering from a headache.

"Thank you very much," Kairi said on-stage. This announcement averted Sora and Roxas's attention towards the stage and stared at the redhead. She grinned widely. "Our next song is a song called 'WINGS'. I hope you enjoy it!"

"Hmm…Utada Hikaru night, eh? Thought so," the blonde muttered. "Interesting, right Sora?"

No reply.

Roxas turned to his cousin. "Sora?"

His spiky-haired companion was gazing at the star. **(1)**

Kairi signaled the silver-haired pianist to start doing his thing, and the song started off with a catchy piano tune. Kairi slightly swayed to the beat, and her mouth opened to vocalize her part.

As soon as she started singing, Namine played the flute as a harmony. Suddenly, the crowd was immersed in the beautiful song.

"_Jitto senaka wo mitsume_  
_Dakishime youka kangaeru_," Kairi sang into the microphone, her voice blending in with the other instruments. Sora's full attention was on the redhead and her voice.

"_Daitan na koto wa souzo suru dake_" At this point, the background singers started to sing a soft, "la la la la la la, la la la la ooh oh."  
"_Ookii bakari de tobenai hane (Anata dake da watashi no shin'yuu)  
Sunao na kotoba wa mata oazuke (la la la la la la, la la la la ooh oh)  
Kantan ni narete shimauno wana ze_"

Namine and the dirty-blonde who played the electric guitar during Passion took up their flutes and played a tune that went with the melody. They were separated by an octave, but the way they sounded blended well into one sound.

"_Ofuru no ondo wa nurume  
amae kata datte chuuto hanpa  
__Sorekuso amae kana_

_Anshin dekiru atatakai basho de (la la la la la la, la la la la ooh oh)  
__Daisuki na sakka no hon wo hiraite (anata dake da watashi no shin'yuu)  
__Kinou no kotoba hayaku wasurete (la la la la la la, la la la la ooh oh)  
__Daisuki na hito wo utagau no wa naze (anata dake da watashi no shin'yuu)  
__Mukai kaze ga chansu da yo ima tobe  
Ending no sukoshi temae de tojinaide_"

The percussion stopped, and the piano was only heard, making the next verse filled with meaning.

"_Ashita ni sonae dekiru koto mo aru kedo  
hayame ni neru yo kyou wa  
__Anata no maede iitai koto wo kami ni kaite  
__Yumemiru yo oozora!_"

Instead of going on with the instrumental for another minute, they had stopped around a final chord a few seconds later, leaving the mysterious aura behind.

The whole restaurant applauded, once again amazed by Kairi Constell's talent. Sora heartily joined in with Roxas beside him.

"Everybody give a hand to Namine and Hayner Erthrael on flute!" The crowd's applause was prolonged, a few 'whoo's here and there. Hayner smiled cheesily, and Namine blushed.

It all died down after two minutes (Roxas couldn't help but laugh when he heard that Yuffie was one of the last people cheering). Kairi, once again, took center-stage, her smile radiating her happiness.

"You guys have a good time?" She asked, and the crowd erupted in cheers again. ("We weren't even here for five songs, and I still like it," Sora said to Roxas.) Kairi laughed. "Well, it's pretty late, and I'm sure a lot of you are tired tonight. So, here's the last song." Some people's groaning was heard over the silence, despite the large area that 7th Heaven took up. Kairi pouted. "Don't worry! I'll come again another night!"

Tifa chuckled slightly, thinking how Kairi still pouted at the age of eighteen…and how her pout looks exactly the same when she was six.

"Our last song of the night is something called, 'Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro,' otherwise known as, 'When Someone's Wish Comes True.'" The crowd gave a round of applause again while Kairi received a stool from Olette. She set the stool in front of the microphone to sing into it, giving a hint to everyone that this wasn't a song that was bouncy. Hayner put his flute somewhere in the back and got out an acoustic guitar. The design on the pick guard was intuitive, full of swirls of different colors that were mostly dark. The top of it, which was really the hollow space that made the unique shape of the guitar, was black with a few strokes of white mixed in it. If you squinted, you could make out the graffiti words, "You & Me."

Riku, still on the baby grand, looked towards the redhead for a signal. Kairi gave a victory sign to him, and the slow song began.

She took a hold of the mic on the stand and sang.

"_Chiisa na koto de daiji no mono ushinatta…_"

The emotion spilled from just the first line of the verse made everyone's hearts break.

"_Tsumetai yubiwa ga watashi ni hikattemiseta._" At this time, Olette and Pence, with a violin and a cello respectively, came in the song.

"'_Ima sae areba ii' to itta kedo sou ja nakatta  
__anata e tsuzuku doa ga oto mo naku kieta…_"

It was dead silent for five seconds until Kairi inhaled the breath she needed to sing.

"_Anata no shiawase negau hodo wagamama ga fueteku yo  
__soredemo anata wo hikitometai itsu datte sou  
__Dareka no negai ga kanau koro ano ko ga naiteru yo  
__Sono mama tobira no oto wa naranai…_"

Hayner strummed in with his guitar; Olette played along with her violin, her eyes closed for an attempt to feel the music (it worked, apparently); Pence was content with his part as harmony.

"_Minna ni hitsuyou to sareru kimi wo iyaseru tatta hitori ni  
__naritakute sukoshi gaman shi sugita na_

"_Jibun no shiawase negai koto wagamama dewa nai desho  
__sore nara anata wo dakiyosetai dekiru dake gyutto  
__watashi no namida ga kawaku koro ano ko ga naiteru yo  
__kono mama bokura no jimen wa kawakanai_

_Anata no shiawase negau hodo wagamama ga fueteku yo  
__Anata wo watashi wo hikitometai itsu datte sou  
__Dareka no negai ga kanau koro ano ka ga naiteru yo  
__Minna mo tegai wa douji ni wa kanawanai…_"

The crowd was silent, their eyes and ears towards the singing girl.

"_Chiisana chikyuu ga mawaru hodo yasashisa mi ni tsuku yo  
__Mou ichido anata wo dakishimetai dekiru dake sutto…_"

The song ended, and the lights on the stage dimmed.

* * *

Namine practically bounced over to the redhead girl. Now what _wasn't_ practical was the fact that the blonde jumped her and squealed.

Kairi found this action weird. Namine doesn't squeal a lot.

"That was so good, Kairi!" Namine exclaimed, her blue eyes glossy with admiration. "You're so good that I bet you'll be invited to the next royal…WHATEVER just to provide the entertainment."

Kairi laughed. "I thought you didn't care about the government, Namine."

"Hey! I know that there's a queen, a king, and a prince. That's all I think I need to know."

"You are such a blonde."

"Take that back! There are people who are reading who might be blonde!"

The red-haired girl raised a brow. "Reading…_what_, exactly?"

"Our conversation, you know. They might get offended by your statement."

"…You mean, stalkers?"

"No, readers. Reviewers. People who review this story that the authoress-who-thinks-she's-a-god-or-something-like-that made. You know…this story?"

"You're insane."

Namine shrugged. "I never said I was normal."

…Now where did we hear **that**?

"Hey, Namine," Selphie called, walking towards the blonde girl. She was walking with a tall, chestnut-haired man. Most of his hair was tied in a ponytail, and a cowboy hat donned his head.

"Oh, hey Selphie, hey Irvine," Namine greeted. Irvine tipped his hat and smiled, and Kairi waved at the two.

"There's this guy with a hood sitting waiting for you outside with a spiky-brown-haired person. They said they were looking for you," Selphie said.

Namine's head snapped up. "What color were his eyes? His hair?" She asked. Kairi chuckled on the inside.

"…Uh, well, his hood covered his hair, so I couldn't tell," Selphie answered. She frowned. "Sorry."

Irvine coughed. "If I could interrupt, Miss Erthrael," he said, "my sharpshooter eyes have much more quality than little choo-choo **(2)** over here."

"Shut up. Why do I love you?"

The man winked at Selphie and turned his attention back to the blonde. "I believe his eyes were as blue as your's."

Namine grinned widely, said a quick thank you, and walked away. She was trying to appear like she wasn't that excited, but her eyes gave her away. Kairi waved at the couple and followed Namine.

Selphie turned to Irvine. "Are you cheating on me?" she asked warily.

"Of course not, Selph," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "Your eyes are the jade that I claim as mine, and mine alone."

Selphie's glare exploded to a happy face. "Okay, I remember why I love you!" Irvine chuckled at his girlfriend's silly act.

* * *

Luckily for the prince, all the customers had left rather quickly. Even though it was a Friday, Tifa had made the place close early simply because she felt like it. Some people had complained about it, but eventually got used to it.

Weird, I know.

Only the staff was allowed to stay afterwards, and that included the band members and any participating people in the show or special excuses. In this case, Sora and Roxas can be counted as special.

Roxas, now in the presence of familiar people, removed his hood, revealing his head of blonde hair. Sora stood next to him, looking around the place.

"It got bigger the last time I was here, Tifa," Sora commented, his eyes on the woman who was counting the amount of munny she received that night.

"Give the credit to Vincent and Cloud," she said, looking towards the two guys hanging idly around. "They actually had enough munny from their job at the palace to help buy more land and build a stage."

"It's a shame they stopped working there," Aerith added, smiling as she stood next to Cloud. "It's awfully boring without them."

Leon turned his gaze towards the pink flower girl. "…You're saying I'm boring?" It was more of a statement than a question, though.

"Of course you are, Leon," Sora said. Roxas snorted.

"SQUAAALLL!"

A blur of black jumped on the back of the brooding man, and Leon hacked a bit from the impact. Yuffie was in the position of a piggy-back ride from him, and she was grinning. "SQUALL! I MISSED YOU!"

"Leon," he corrected.

Yuffie glared cutely. "You're such a party-pooper. You don't even say anything like, 'I miss you, too, Yuffie!' or something."

"…Why would I?"

Yuffie could feel herself slipping from her grip around his neck, but then she was hoisted back up. Her mouth turned into an 'o' of surprise until she looked down and saw Leon's sleeve-covered arms around her legs. "GASP! SQUALL! YOU **DO** LOVE ME!"

"No, I don't. I hate you."

Poor Leon. The fact that he still has Yuffie in a piggy-back position doesn't support his claim.

Roxas laughed appreciatively at the scene, obviously enjoying the slight humiliation he was seeing his guard going through. Although Leon kept on saying, "Get off" to Yuffie, she just kept a hold on him and ranted about how a person who's in love shouldn't let go…or something along those lines. Roxas wasn't listening after the second sentence because he thought his eyes caught something familiar.

Roxas walked forward, and Sora didn't even notice he was gone (he was busy watching Leon and Yuffie and teasing them along with Tifa) until he felt something was missing. "Roxas?" he called and found his cousin walking towards two girls. One was the girl in the marketplace. The other was the girl at the marketplace…who was spying on her friend and Roxas.

Kairi Constell.

He caught up to his cousin, but not soon enough to hear their first lines of greeting.

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Roxas," Namine grinned. "I thought you wouldn't make it."

Roxas smirked. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Olette, who was sitting next to Hayner, saw Namine and Roxas interacting for those first ten seconds. What her eyes saw was a mutual understanding through two people who know nothing other than each other's names. She saw fate play right before her eyes.

"…Oi," Hayner suddenly said, squinting his eyes from the back of the stage. "Is that Namine…with a boy?" His elder brotherly senses took over, and he almost knocked over his chair just by standing up so fast.

Olette grasped his hand, not wanting Hayner to interrupt their moment. "Hayner! Stop!"

"Why should I?" Hayner snapped, turning his head towards the girl grasping his hand. Then, he actually froze at the sight of her large, green eyes and her soft face.

Olette racked her mind for a reason. "…Because I want you to stay with me," she replied, hoping he'd buy it.

She hoped that the fact that her heart rate was increasing was because she was nervous about the fact that Hayner might catch her in a lie. She hoped that what she said was really a lie in the first place.

Hayner turned pink, and after a few seconds, he gave in and sighed. "Come on," he murmured, grasping her hand and tugging it, "I'll take you home."**

* * *

(1)** Kairi's last name, in here, is Constell. All the last names that I made up for the Kingdom Hearts characters are based off of my own creations from an original story I planned to write but gave up on it after a couple of months of planning.

If you realized, referring Kairi as a "star" is a pun. When I made up Constell, it was derived from "constellation." (My story was a fantasy story, so any last name goes. XD) Constellation, stars, get it?

**(2)** Most of you FF8 fans might understand what I mean when Irvine refers to Selphie as "little choo-choo." Although he doesn't call Selphie that in the actual game, she has a favorite song she likes to sing that's about trains. …Thus, choo-choo. Gosh, I'm corny.

WELL. This chapter was more romance-induced than Fushigi Yuugi. No wait, I'm kidding. Fushigi Yuugi surpasses all soap operas.

But I don't really know whether the romantic atmosphere was actually intentional or accidental because my brain isn't giving me an answer. I honestly stuffed in all the pairings I was going to use (I probably missed one, though) into _this_ chapter. It's kind of scary, in its own way. So, I hope you guys aren't gagging because of the fluff-induced chapter. Too much fluff makes me choke. XD

OK. I'm going to list the characters that I probably made OOC:

Everyone.  
HAH. YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVED I WOULD LIST ALL OF THEM?

Ihaven't played FF8 a lot to actually know how Irvine and Squall's character is. (I own the game, but I lost the first disc. Goes to cry in a corner.) Leon doesn't get a lot of screen time in KH and KH2 compared to FF8, considering he's the main character. I haven't played FF7 **at all**, so I'm basing my Tifa, Vincent, Cloud, and Aerith characterization based solely off of fanfiction, Advent Children, and Kingdom Hearts.

Pence, Yuna, and Lulu didn't get a lot of face-time yet, so don't worry, they'll come in.

As you probably noticed, Olette's going to play a major role in Hayner's life and assisting Namine with the flow of fate. (I like the way it sounds. XD) I can't wait for the Hayner/Olette parts though, probably because I don't see a lot of Hayner/Olette nowadays. Anyone want to recommend some good fics if you know any?

Anyways, I FINALLY UPDATED! After like a whole influx of reviews! I really love you guys! So, here's a reward! A five to six paged chapter. XD

Read and review please!

PS: There's a link in my profile that goes towards my BS-ed angelfire site. It has access to the two Utada Hikaru songs here so you can hear what Kairi sings.


	4. Familiarity

**Disclaimer**: …No._

* * *

Tifa Lockhart smiled weakly at the growing boy in front of her. "I'm so proud of you, Roxas," she congratulated, her hands on his arms. She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the top of his crowned head._

"_Aww, Tifa!" He complained. "I'm eighteen! No more kisses, remember?" The woman smirked at the so-called 'brat' and chuckled. There was a coming-of-age ceremony held for him because of his next step towards being a true adult. In comparison to his cousin, Sora, he seemed a lot more mature. _

"_No matter what age you are, you're still my little Roxy," she said, ruffling his already-messy hair. "Little Roxy, the one who used to play in the sandbox and lie down on the grass."_

"_Whatever happened to Kairi?" Roxas asked. "I remember she used to make me listen to her sing all the time."_

_Tifa laughed at the memory when Roxas, trying desperately to take a nap, covered his ears in an attempt to drown out the redhead's voice. "She moved out of Vincent's house and into the house next to her friend's."_

"_Who's her friend?" _

_The woman raised a brow and frowned._

* * *

That night ended up being a bit weird for Sora Hatsu. 

First of all, he was faced with the guilt of knowing that his aunt didn't approve of him taking the throne. It's not like he wanted it, but it would've been nice if she actually complimented him once in a while. Second, he got caught up in a ditch in the middle of the road. It came out of no where, and the horseman claimed it actually **did** come out of no where. Third, he faced the wrath of Roxas's slight irritation phases and the digestion of last night's dinner. Fourth, just as he was about to catch up to his blonde cousin, he forcefully was pulled away by the wrist.

Just as he was about to yell, a soft, small hand clamped itself over his mouth. He was pulled behind the cashier counter and practically thrown on the floor.

"Augh!" he hissed in pain, clutching his head. "Why did yo—!"

He was met with a pair of deep cerulean eyes. "Ssh," the girl gestured, putting her finger up to her lips. She pointed out towards what was on the other side of the counter, and the two peeked from the top.

Fifth, he secretly hoping that the girl who caught him didn't notice he was gaping at her and blushing at how blue her eyes were.

* * *

"In any case, I'm glad you could make it," Namine smiled and bowed slightly. Roxas almost freaked out when he saw her bowing and grasped her shoulders before she got any lower. 

"Ah!" he exclaimed, trying to cover up his action. He wished to feel like he wasn't a prince…he wanted to feel like a commoner for once. "I'm sorry, if people bow to me, it kind of makes me uncomfortable." Namine nodded her head in comprehension and stood correctly, and the warmth of his hands left her petite shoulders. "Anyway, it was a great show. Your friend, Miss Constell, sings great. And you sound beautiful on the flute, as well."

Namine turned pink. "Thank you," she murmured, "I'd love for you to meet Kairi, but…" Her head turned around a couple of times to look for any sign of a redhead in the room. "…I can't seem to find her." The blonde girl sighed and looked apologetic. "She always disappears whenever I'm not paying any attention to her."

Roxas chuckled. "That's all right; I can always meet her another time." This was partially true. "My cousin went missing as well, so it looks like I'm going to have to keep my own secret or tell him later."

The person in front of the prince tilted her head cutely. "Is your cousin some sort of 'secret-keeper'?"

She hit the nail on the head. "You can call it that, yeah," He scratched the back of his head. "He's really reliable, so I trust him completely."

The girl looked at her new companion in hidden awe and saw his ability to trust someone. She saw the purity of his heart, but also a secret he intended to keep.

* * *

"_Why can't I go with Roxas to his friend's house, Auntie?"_

"_Not yet. You are still a child, so you don't understand."_

"_What am I supposed to understand? The only thing I get is how I'm Roxas-less in this boring place."_

"_Why only Roxas, Sora?"_

"_Because Roxas is my only friend!"

* * *

The next day, Riku and Hayner wondered why Namine painted all day and didn't go out of her room except for food._

The next day, Sora struggled to keep up with Roxas and his skateboard, no matter how many times Leon scolded them for running and boarding in the castle.

* * *

Eventually, Leon finally got to his boiling point that he told Roxas not to go out that day. The blonde nearly went in a small fit, but Sora said he'd buy something for him from the marketplace. Sora wasn't the one chastised, anyway. 

"I'll get you something…like a papou fruit or whatever," Sora last said to Roxas, and he chuckled after hearing his cousin's cry of indignation. Roxas, no matter how much he loved his cousin in that brotherly way, did not want to be destined to stay with him…forever. It was predetermined anyway.

So, Roxas came up with a plan. Yes, a plan better than Jesse McCartney being his voice actor! He opened the window to his own private balcony and looked at his surroundings. _Mm…Not bad,_ he thought to himself. _Wind is going northwest, more west than north, nice day with a few clouds in the sky…_

"ALL RIGHT!" he exclaimed to practically no one. "I'M GOING TO FLY!"

* * *

Aerith looked up from her book and looked across the large library to find the brooding man she was looking for. "Leon," she called loudly. 

"You're in a library, Aerith," he said, his eyes not shifting about from the words in the book. The pink-dressed girl shook her head and smirked.

"I'm the librarian, remember? Plus, it's not like anyone but us is in here."

"…You make it sound so…suggestive."

"Dear Lord! What have those Penny Jordan books do to you?" **(1)**

Leon slapped his forehead. "What do you want?"

Aerith put her finger on her chin as if she was in some kind of thinking mode. "I have the weirdest feeling," she started, "that something just went missing right now." She paused to stare at the dark-haired man. "And I think it's your fault."

Leon scoffed…slightly. "What would go missing at a time like this? The only thing that would go missing is that huge vase Roxas broke because he was boarding inside the castle."

"…Roxas?"

The shiny oak doors of the library opened, if not loudly than slowly. Aerith and Leon turned their heads towards the door as a fast reflex, and a lady in black stood at the door. Her hair covered one of her eyes, and the head ornament was certainly pretty to look at.

"Lulu!" the librarian called, smiling. "What brings you here?"

Lulu, a well-known girl around the castle at only age 19, smiled slightly and bowed. "I'm afraid I have bad news," she said.

Aerith tilted her head. "What? Do you want to talk about Wakka?" Lulu remained silent, and Leon had to fight back a chuckle.

The dark girl cleared her throat. She liked to keep her relationship with the energetic man her own secret, but it looks like her own secret won't be kept secret anymore if Aerith just shouted that across the library. "It appears that the bird found a treasure and took flight with it."

The other two just blinked.

Lulu sighed. "The prince got his hands on the Liberali. He's gone." **(2)**

The other two just blinked.

Lulu's eyebrows scrunched together in slight annoyance. "Leon, you had put it underneath his bed to hide it from him. Apparently, he was watching when you did."

Aerith turned to him at the same time Leon did to her. "I told you it was your fault," she said.

* * *

"_Hey! Leon!" Sora called, catching the attention of Roxas and the brooding guard. "What's that you got there?"_

_Leon gripped the backpack-like object in his hands tighter. "Liberali," he recited and resumed to put it away._

_Roxas thought for a minute. "That almost sounds like 'libertas.'"_

"_Yes, it's derived from the latin word for freedom." He got on the step ladder to put the sack on the highest possible height in Roxas's closet. "I'm glad someone—" Leon's eyes averted to Sora suspiciously, "—paid attention to their Latin class."_

_Sora flushed. "Who needs Latin anyway?"_

_Leon decided to ignore him for the time-being. "The Liberali was a gift that your father received," he said pointing to Roxas. "A strange man had sold it to him just because the king liked the intricate wing design on the sack."_

_Roxas shrugged when Sora looked at him weirdly. "My dad likes wings."_

_Leon nodded. "Precisely. This sack, once you put it on, actually gives you a set of wings to fly in."_

_Sora jumped up in excitement. "WHOA! MAGIC! How does it do that?"_

_The guard shook his head after he stepped down the ladder. "Don't ask me, Aerith's better at magic than I am." He gave a quick glare to the two teenagers. "I better not catch any of you wearing that pack without a good reason."_

_Unfortunately, for the next few years, he has._

* * *

"Mama! Mama! LOOK!" a little boy in the crowd exclaimed. "It's a bird!" 

His exasperated mother sighed, caring more about the expensive price of milk nowadays than her son's sudden interest in an animal that flies. "Yes, honey, a bird," she said. His mother was more concerned about the rising price of milk nowadays more than her son's sudden new interest in flying animals.

"Look, mama, look!" he whined. "Its wings are like angels!"

There's something about the word 'angel' that strikes everyone's attention and memory. In most cases, most people actually would know what an angel is. Perhaps it is the fact that angels are a symbol of miracles and hope that makes everyone's brain levitate towards seeing something more remarkable than their own lifetime.

At his exclamation of "angel," not only did his mother look up, but almost everyone else who heard him.

Lo and behold, they saw a tuft of hair, white clothes, and the purest white wings that ever touched the sun's rays.

"Crap," Roxas muttered to himself, "fly higher, damn you!"

-------------

Now at a higher elevation, Roxas could barely see any building in the detail that he wanted to. However, he _did_ spot his cousin one time when he was at a lower altitude. What made the blonde worry was how he saw him at the papou fruit stand.

He was either buying him a fruit or buying someone else one…? Hmm…Roxas decided he shall speculate on that later.

From afar, he saw a lonely house…a lonely _large_ house, accompanied by another lonely, large house in a lonely, large empty space that only those two lonely, large houses occupied. He even spotted a balcony!

"Rest for the weary," Roxas said in relief and flew towards the balcony he spotted.

* * *

Namine smiled in content as she continued to sketch a funny little drawing in her beloved sketchbook. 

The whole concept was weird, she knew, but it just **had** to be drawn.

"There!" she said in satisfaction and stared at her art. "I finished!"

Her stool was right in front of her huge window, and she sat right in front of it for reference. What she drew, with different hues of light blue and gray, with an angel landing on her balcony. The only other color that she used other than blue and gray was the yellow that she made his hair.

It was kind of funny to her because she somehow wished it was reality. But in all honesty, she always wanted some sort of sixth sense that had something to do with _angels_. They really were her symbol of hope, and every piece of art she drew of angels had that prolonging feeling of hope that she poured into it.

So what was she hoping for? She didn't know, but a miracle is always a good start. Yeah. Miracles make life less boring.

The next moment, she looked up from her sketchbook, and her artwork came alive.

An angel landed on her balcony.

And his blue eyes looked way too familiar.

* * *

**(1)** Penny Jordan is a writer for those adult books. My mom reads them. ...I'm so exposed to such weird things. D:  
**(2)** Liberali? Like...the Liberali Garden school thing in Final Fantasy 8? Yeah. That one. I like the name though. It makes me feel giddy. 

OH NO! Does Namine think Roxas is an angel?

Okay, I'm **horribly**, **horribly** sorry for the UBER delay. I went out of the Kingdom Hearts 2 fandom for a second…for a month…and the chapter is really short, too! Oh my gosh, I really hope all of you forgive me. All of you SO great for the reviews and alerts. I just checked my stats, and I squealed at the long list of story alerts. Thanks SO much for liking my fic. Q.Q;

Well, the Namixas is coming close. VERY. CLOSE. It's summer and school's out, so you can expect Tsuri to start working on the fics…and more fics to come. That 4 Minutes in my profile is currently being worked on, along with a Naruto multi-chapter fic.

…I think I'm going to die by this summer just working on this stuff. D:

Thank you for reading! I'll try my best on the next chapter!


	5. Deterioration

**Disclaimer**: KH2? Ownage? Yeah, right.

I guess all the 'sorry's in the world can't amount to the number of days that people have to wait for the next chapter. I fell out of the Kingdom Hearts fandom, then I went back when I got to play Proud Mode.

I got a new fic idea, yet again, so. Eh.

XD

* * *

_There once was a girl who lived in a house.  
There once was a house that lived in a village.  
There once was a village that was part of a kingdom.  
There once was a kingdom that was part of a country.  
There once was a country that was part of a continent.  
There once was a continent that was part of a planet.  
There once was a planet that was part of a galaxy.  
There once was a galaxy that was part of a universe._

_Seeing this, the girl felt very small, knowing that she was just once being on something so small.  
She felt insignificance.

* * *

_

Kingdom Hearts was an oddly diverse kingdom in terms of land.

There was the north side, which was usually cold and had more snow during winter. There was the south side, where it was hotter and more suitable for growing crops. Then, there are the tropical islands to the west, where they grow the infamous fruit known as the papou fruit.

It's a star-shaped fruit. It's kind of cute. And they say that if you share it with someone, you and the person you shared it with are bound to be destined together…forever.

Sora grew up knowing this, even though there was limited number of girls he knew in the castle. All the maids treated him with a respect that rivals the way they treat Roxas, where Sora only wanted a friend. Now that he was 19, he definitely knows that hormones would go in the way of his life.

He neared the papou fruit stand and looked at it with an interest. Not only did they sell the fruit, but they sold other healthy necessities, and a collection of papou fruit souvenirs. Apparently, Kingdom Hearts was famous for the said fruit.

"Hello, sir! Would you like to buy something?"

The girl running the stand seemed like a very nice, motherly-type kind. Her brown hair was layered and curled out, and her green eyes were certainly pretty.

"These papou fruit are genuine, straight from Destiny Islands off the west coast, and the key chains were hand-made," she explained. Sora looked at the key chains, and his eyebrows went up in interest.

"Who made them?" he asked, taking one in his hand and gazing at it. "They're…" He mentally kicked himself for not paying attention during the time when his tutor was attempting to enhance vocabulary.

The brunette giggled, as if knowing what he was trying to say. "They were made by me," she replied, her cheeks turning a tint of pink. "Carved out of clay, but it doesn't break easily."

Sora beamed at her. "You did a great job with them. I'd like one, please," Sora said, handing her the key chain he had in his hand. "What's your name?"

"Olette," she answered, "and what's yours?"

"Sora!"

She smiled. "Nice to meet you, then, Sora. Here's your key chain, and that would be one piece of silver."

-----

Namine could have sworn.

She could have sworn she saw Roxas with wings…ANGEL wings on her balcony.

She could have sworn she saw he was just as surprised as he was.

So she turned around, rubbed her eyes a bit, and faced the window again.

He was still there.

She practically ran to the window and ripped it open. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!"

Roxas was just standing there, his eyes wide. "Uh…"

-----

Kairi knows she's not blind.

She's rather…special, in one way to put it. She recognizes faces easily, and her voice sounds almost near perfect every time she sings. People ask how she did it, and she says, "Magic!" Of course, both parties laugh it off.

So, when she saw the brunette spiky-haired boy she pulled over at the bar last night wandering the marketplace _alone_, she took this time to POUNCE.

"SORA!" She called, and said brunette turned around, quite surprised that a looks-like-a-**(pretty)**-commoner girl knew his name. It wasn't every day that you were recognized as the prince's cousin. In fact, there was a bunch of "Sora"s throughout the kingdom. Roxas has it bad; his father just HAD to name him something that expresses some sort of individuality.

His only compensation was that, if he became a good king, other people would name their babies after him.

Sora lifted his hand and waved wearily. He knew she was the singer from the 7th Heaven restaurant/bar (Kairi, he thinks), but he didn't know how she knew his name. All they did was watch Roxas and Namine. (Actually, he was watching Kairi more than the blonde couple.) Not a lot of words were exchanged.

"Remember me?" she asked after catching up to him. She smiled, and Sora blushed.

"Uh…Kairi, right? From last night?"

She nodded eagerly. "That's good! You remember!" Kairi took a deep breath and exhaled, as if to release all her anxious energy. "What brings you to the marketplace?"

Sora scratched the back of his head, his spikes moving slightly because of the disturbance in motion. "I'm just going around. I'm supposed to get my cousin's skateboard fixed since he couldn't come with me today."

"Other than that?"

"Mm…nothing, really."

"GOOD! That means you get to shop with me!"

"W-wait, Kairi! What are you—AH!"

-----

Namine closed her large window softly (compared to the time when she opened it anyway), and it closed with a soft _click!_ Roxas was inside, looking around her white room with extreme fascination.

The white walls were decorated with the paintings, portraits, and drawings that Namine had done out of boredom. Her bed was stationed on the right wall, from Roxas's point of view, and on its left side was a white side table. In the middle of the room was an art easel with a painting on it, apparently. It was placed rather bluntly, so it's only natural that Roxas wanted to take a look.

Meanwhile, Namine was busy thinking. She was still at the window, appearing to look outside of it.

_Okay, Namine, calm down. You're not some kind of witch or anything, you don't believe in those things._ She thought, her blue eyes staring firmly at the white carpet beneath her. I_t's not every day that a cute—wait what?—boy comes inside your room. Actually, he's the only non-blood-related boy that went inside my room. Wait. I'm not related to Hayner OR Riku biologically. Okay. Roxas is the only non-family boy inside my room._ Namine stifled a cry of indignation. _MY PURE WHITE ROOM!_ _What do I do? Well, I can always show him downstairs and offer him food…but then, Hayner's downstairs, and he'll threaten him. Riku's downstairs, now that I think about it…and not only does he threaten, he MEANS it._

"Wow," Roxas murmured.

Namine snapped out of her musings and looked over to where the guy of her thoughts was. He was looking at the painting she just—

"AH!" Namine spazzed and ran over to go in front of it, as if to protect if from some evil or something. "No looking!" She reprimanded.

Roxas pouted. "But I want to see! It looked really good!" He complained.

She shook her head feverously.

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not!"

"Just because you're a new friend of mine doesn't mean you get to see it! It's not the most finished piece of work anyway."

"But I'm a friend! That's why I get to see it!"

"Roxas, NO!" Namine was about to erupt in laughter at this point.

Then, suddenly, he put on the straightest face in the world. "You asked for it." He said grimly, and Namine actually started to fear what was coming.

-----

Hayner opened the front door and was greeted by Olette's pretty face.

"O-Olette!" He stammered. "What are you doing here?"

Olette giggled. "I closed down my booth early, silly. You promised me that we'd go shopping together, remember?"

Hayner groaned inwardly. "Okay, okay…let me just tell Namine. I don't want to wake Riku from his nap. Come on in," he said, opening the door wider and letting the girl walk in.

"I hope she hasn't been doing anything sus—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Olette and Hayner looked at each other in mutual dread and sprinted towards her room.

-----

"NAMINE!"

All they saw was a blonde girl sitting up with the covers up to her chin, as if she was clutching them with all her might. "Hayner…O-Olette…"

"Did anything happen? What's wrong?" Hayner asked, running towards her side as if she was ill. Olette followed in suit.

"N-Nothing, really!" Namine said awkwardly and laughed weakly. "I was just taking a short nap, and I had a n—good dream. I was screaming in joy."

Olette looked at her with a puzzled look. "What happened in your dream?"

Namine stopped, staring at them as if they were stupid. Then, she reverted back. "People."

Pause.

"I…don't like people…so, uh, I dreamt that I was rolling a katamari and I rolled up a whole city of them." **(1)**

Another pause.

-----

Hayner and Olette left the house, not without reminding Namine that they would be gone for a few hours and that she should take medication or something.

Namine sighed in relief after she heard a door shut close and dropped her arms, the sheets falling along with it.

Roxas suddenly jumped out from under the bed. "KATAMARI?" He scratched his head in irritation. "And PEOPLE! Namine, you live in a world full of them!"

The blonde girl jumped at her place from the bed, not expecting the sudden return. "I couldn't think of anything else!" She retaliated.

"I could've thought of something better quicker than you could have!"

"It's not like I've been in this kind of situation before! Besides, it's all your fault!"

"MY FAULT? How is it **my fault**?"

"If you hadn't tickled me, I wouldn't have screamed so loud!"

"If you were so girly, you wouldn't have _screeched_ so loud!"

Namine jumped out of her bed and came face-to-face with the prince. "I should REALLY ki—"

"NAMINE?"

The two blondes froze as Riku's voice rang from right down the stairs.

"NAMINE!" He called again.

"YES!" She whipped her head around, and her hair passed right under Roxas's nose. She smelled of lemons.

"I'M GOING OUT FOR WORK! I'LL BE BACK LATE, SO DON'T MISS ME."

"OKAY! BYE, RIKU!"

They heard another door slam shut. Namine turned around to finish her sentence.

"Like I was saying, I should REALLY kic—"

She felt a hand go through her hair.

"Ro—"

Only then did she realize how close their faces were. She could feel his hot breath on her lips, and she flushed immensely.

He took a piece of her hair on her shoulder and held it up to his mouth and nose.

"You smell good," he said softly, as if he didn't want to break the moment between them.

Namine did not believe in love at first sight, second sight, or third. But right now, her beliefs and morals were failing her.

Namine's hair that Roxas had between his fingers slipped away slowly.

* * *

**(1)** — The use of Katamari Damacy or We Love Katamari is in here, so that's copyrighted to NAMCO. If anyone else loves this game, please, feel free to PM me to rant all about it. XD

YAY. UPDATE.

Short, ne?

Anyways, I'd like to thank those who still reviewed and those who once reviewed but stopped because of the lack of updates. But I really appreciate it, guys.

So, that whole Namixas thing was all jumbled up in here. The story and couples DO progress, no worries. That particular painting I _will_ make special in future chapters. I really DO want to finish this fic, thank you. But I really need your help, so review please!

Oh, yeah. Just a little TSURI-IS-VERY-CONCEITED reminder. XD My birthday's coming up on August 14! YAY FOR TSURI-BEING-CONCEITED! (not)


	6. Fear and Understanding

**Disclaimer:** Refer to chapter one.

…I have no excuses, honestly. Making you guys wait that long was really horrible of me. I'm pretty sure you all forgot about this because I probably would have. (facefaults)

* * *

_There was a girl who loved animals._

_She loved all kinds: birds, fish, reptiles, and all the sorts._

_The two she liked especially were cats and dogs._

_She owned two cats and three dogs, and she loved to play with all of them equally._

_One day, as they all were sleeping, she noticed something. _

"_Mama, why don't they sleep together?" Her mother looked at her with a questioning glance._

"_Who, honey?"_

"_The cats and the dogs. The dogs sleep with the dogs, the cats sleep with the cats, but they don't sleep together. Why not?"_

_Her mother thought about it for a minute and looked at her daughter preciously. "Well, maybe because they're afraid of each other."_

"_Afraid? Why would they be afraid?"_

"_Because the cats don't understand why the dog isn't a cat, and the dog doesn't understand why the cat isn't a dog." _

* * *

Kairi was browsing the numerous accessories hanging on the wall, in her hand was Sora's wrist. Said boy was behind her, holding all her bags and feeling like a little child. I mean, it's not like he wasn't going to SERIOUSLY run away, dropping her bags, and hope to find a safe hiding spot from the girl…

"So," she popped up out of no where, and Sora was snapped out of his plot to run away, "how are you related to the prince?"

"The…prince?" Sora hesitated. "What do you mean?"

Kairi's head turned to him, her eyes narrowed and her mouth to a cute pout. "You know what I'm talking about."

"…am I?"

She sighed. "Roxas! How are you related to him?"

Kairi was met with a surprised look. "How do you he's…?"

"He used to come over with Tifa to my house when I was little," she replied, going back to look at this one necklace she had her eye on. "All of us thought that the whole point was just for Tifa to visit Vincent and for Roxas to have outside friends, but as soon as he found out what it really was for, he stopped coming to see me." She held out the necklace to Sora. "Would this look good on me?"

He scrutinized it for a quick second. "Try the blue one."

"Thanks," Kairi said happily, putting the necklace back on the rack and taking the blue one instead. "Why the blue one?"

"It brings out your eyes more." He couldn't tell if Kairi had blushed or not. A few more minuted of silence had accompanied them until he remembered something. "So, uh," he said, wishing he could scratch the back of his neck as a habit, but there were a few bags weighing him down, "why did Roxas stop seeing you?" The fact that he didn't know this little bit showed that, even though he knew many things about Roxas, he would still keep some secrets from him.

Kairi stood still for a moment, and Sora felt her grip on his wrist loosen. Yet, all plans of escaping suddenly fled his mind.

"I was supposed to be his betrothed."

* * *

Leon, Aerith, and Lulu were walking down the hall. Two of the three were very calm while the last one looked too pissed off to be passed off as calm.

"That…little…IDIOT." Leon was practically blowing steam out of his ears, and if Aerith knew any better, he might ruin his pearly whites if he grinded them any more. "Why…must he…insist…on completely…DISOBEYING ME?"

Aerith and Lulu practically had to jog just to catch up with the stomping man. "Well," Aerith piped up, patting his shoulder, "it couldn't get any worse!"

"LEON!"

All three stopped in their tracks and turned around, finding the queen walking towards them. They all bowed simultaneously.

"Leon, I demand to know where my son is."

The man paled, and Lulu smirked. "It just did."

* * *

"…Umph…got it!"

"What does it say?"

"Describe your worst moment at a party…"

Roxas flinched. "I've been to so many…" He scratched the top of his head in irritation. "Gosh, I don't even remember."

Namine pouted. "C'mon! There's got to be one thing in your head!"

"…Hmm…well, two years ago, when I was the wonderful age of seventeen, I was dashing and marvelous!"

"…was?"

"I mean, I still _am_, of course—"

"Just go on."

"Well, my parents would make me go to these big dumb parties and balls. And there can't be a party without the alcoholic stuff."

"…NO."

"YES. Someone actually poured a good deal of whatever-it-was in my drink and—"

"—you got TIPSY?"

"…I thought the word was drunk but whatever."

"What about your parents?"

"Well, they didn't realize what I was doing until I got in the middle of the dance floor. Of course, just so you know, this is what they told me, but I got in the middle and…" He stopped midway.

Namine blinked and looked at a flushed Roxas. "OH NO, Roxas, you are NOT stopping your story on me."

"Well…" he started, "first off, I don't believe anything my mother tells me about what I do at parties, and second she's probably not even right—"

"Roxas."

"She said I got slapped by a girl because I mooned her."

The blonde girl burst out laughing and fell over on her back from her sitting position, and she clutched her stomach. "OH MY GOSH! MY STOMACH! IT PAAINS!"

Roxas glared at her. So much for having fun with the question-blocks version of Jenga.

* * *

The prince had left her house around early-evening, telling Namine that the next time she might see him would be his funeral.

"They must have found out that I'm missing already," Roxas told her.

"They?" she asked, tipping her head to the side.

"Uh…my family. You know, my parents and my cousin, Sora."

"Well, don't get hurt on your way back."

"Believe me, I'd be more than hurt."

Both of them chuckled, and she watched him fly off (quite literally) off her balcony. She kept waving her hand 'bye', as if he could see her waving, until she couldn't make him out in the sky anymore.

Namine blinked and put down her hand, using both of them to close her large windows.

She stood in front of the window, her face holding a dazed expression.

"Something has changed within me…" she quietly sang to herself, going over to the Jenga blocks and slowly cleaning them up. "Something is not the same…"

* * *

The next day, Selphie, Kairi, and Olette decided to go to a dessert place for some whatever and have some girl talk. Namine said she was busy cleaning the house (since Hayner wasn't there to help), so she couldn't go with them.

Selphie took a mouthful of her vanilla ice cream in her mouth happily. "Did you hear about Namine, Kairi?"

Kairi took her spoon out of her mouth and blinked. "What about her?"

Olette dipped her spoon in her chocolate ice cream. "You're her best-friend-neighbor, I'd thought you know."

The redhead frowned. "If you guys would tell me, I might actually get to KNOW what the heck you're all talking about."

"Riku came up to talk to us this morning," Selphie started, pointing with her spoon for emphasis, "because he asked us _what was wrong with Namine_."

"…your point being?"

"He said he came home last night to hear Namine belting out a song from that musical, _Wicked_," Olette contributed. Kairi took the next ten seconds to register that in her head, and then, an imaginary light bulb suddenly turned on above her head.

"Namine?" Kairi said, pulling out the spoon out of her mouth. (Strawberry ice cream was practically a magnet to her.) "Namine **belts**?"

"I _know_, that's what I said!" Selphie exclaimed. "We barely hear her SING, if anything!"

"Did anything else happen?" Kairi asked, her curiosity sparked.

Olette put another spoonful of chocolate in her mouth. "Well, Riku thought he heard her talking to herself."

"Oh yeah! But, get this, he thought he actually heard _another voice_ in her room."

"So, someone else was in her room?"

"Crazy, isn't it?"

"Who could it be?"

Kairi watched the exchange between her two friends and put this information at the back of her mind.

* * *

"So, what's your new life lesson as of today?" Sora asked his cousin, who was lying down on his bed, due to a new form of punishment that his mother did. One hint: it _made_ him sulk in his bed, not actually leaving the castle.

Roxas didn't answer for a few seconds, but he had muffled something in the pillow.

"…what?"

The prince turned his head to the side. "Every time I visit Namine, get her a new set of art mediums."

Sora blinked. "Well, actually, I was thinking more along the lines of 'obey your elders' but…I guess that works too…?"

"She mentioned that her most embarrassing moment was when she started to cry about not having her pastels in front of her brother's corporate friends," Roxas chuckled. "Her PMS was on the max, and she completely ignored them until one of them mentioned that he had a daughter who still had an affinity for teddy bears." Both of them laughed. "Namine had stopped crying, stared at all of them, and she left the room screaming."

The spiky-haired brunette laughed some more. It was odd, finding your cousin talking about a girl he had just met. Sora sure was thick-headed, but he wasn't stupid—he wouldn't question his cousin about loving Namine just now. After all, according to all the stories that Auntie Rina had told him, love is weird. …Well, actually, he just paraphrased it, but it's the same message.

"So, are you going to invite her to the ball?" Sora asked, prodding his cousin on the shoulder. "As punishment, Auntie Rina moved it to two weeks instead of a month."

Roxas sighed and turned his head the other way. "I know, I know…"

There was a small silence between the both of them. "What…" Sora paused. "What makes it so hard for you?"

_What makes it so hard for you to tell her?_ That's what he meant. Roxas knew the meaning of Sora's words. He actually was glad that Sora was his best friend: he understood him, but he knows that some things needed to be out in the open so Roxas doesn't go insane.

"I…" Roxas started. "I'm afraid she'll treat me differently."

* * *

YES, GUYS. This isn't a filler chapter. It's short, but it's not as filler. And you can SO tell I just did it. Crap.

Credits go to the Broadway musical, Wicked, for the song "Defying Gravity." Great song and great musical! I wish I could see it. Poo on being broke and under eighteen. Also, the question-blocks Jenga thing is based off of something my friend had. I'm not sure which version though, because I know there was a "girl's-night-out" one and a "truth-or-dare" one mainly for adults but still having the Jenga brand...

I have mid-terms coming up, but unfortunately for me, I don't study. So maybe I might be able to put up a chapter in two weeks time? Also, another unfortunately, I'm not promising anything. What IS promising is the fact that YOU review and YOU motivate ME to actually UPDATE SOONER.

AKA REVIEW DARN YOU. D:  
Also, go check out my wonderful (end sarcasm) high school story Honestly.


	7. Glance

**Disclaimer**: Chapter one, yes?

I feel a little bad because everyone was expecting Roxas to kiss Namine. Note: just a little. (sheepish smile)

Mentions of Christianity, so I apologize if you're offended.

* * *

_God, when You close a door, You open a window. _

_But when You close a window…that's it._

_I don't even know if You open a rat's hole or something…_

-- My sister on a bad week

* * *

"Roxas."

Said boy looked up, a little surprised to see his mother standing in the doorway. Sora was off in the market with Leon and Aerith to spread the news about the "prince's ball." Ugh. Ball. Roxas detested using the word. Why couldn't it just be "big fancy party filled with rich snobs"? Oh yeah, add in "with masks" after.

After all, this whole ball was the reason why he was sitting idly in his room. No one to talk to, nothing to do.

"Uh…yeah, mom?"

The queen opened her mouth, as to apprehend him for addressing her so casually, but snapped it shut after thinking about it. She probably thought it was useless to keep reminding him because he wouldn't do it anyway.

He noticed her facial expression suddenly looked softer. "The Prince of Egypt is on. Would you like to watch with me?" (No offense to those who dislike the movie, are against the movie, and the works.)

Roxas's eyes lit up. "There can be miracles?"

His mother chuckled. "When you believe."

"LET'S DO IT!"

Queen Rina had finally figured out why she was so reluctant to put her son into wedlock in a matter of two weeks.

He was still this immature little boy.

But she didn't mind. Someone out there must find the 'immature little boy' persona charming, at least.

* * *

The spiky brunette boy yawned with a passion.

"Sora, keep your mouth closed," Leon scolded. "An insect might get in your mouth, and it won't be my fault if you choked on it."

Sora made a mocking shocked face. "Leon! That's…the longest two sentences you have ever said to me!" His guardian grunted lowly, which meant a noise for irritation.

Aerith came out of the shop the two boys were standing in front of, holding a small purse. She put folded piece of paper inside the pink purse and walked towards the two. "We got the flowers reserved, and they should be ready by the evening before the party." Leon nodded in affirmation and got out of his 'cool-guy' pose.

"Well, we have flowers, catering—"

"—invitations—" Sora added, holding up a whole box full of letters,

"—etcetera," Aerith said, not bothering to list off the other things. "What I know we're missing is some entertainment."

Leon looked surprisingly at the flower girl. "We are?"

She looked at him like he was insane. "Of course! I usually thought it would be the first thing to do, but I wanted to go in the order the list Queen Rina gave me."

The man sighed, running his hand through his hair. (Sora couldn't help but notice the amount of girls that stared.) "The string quartet we'd hire is using their services for something in Destiny Islands."

"We can always get another string quartet for the dancing, can't we?" Aerith asked.

"Yes, we _can_, but the question is, _who_?"

"LEON! AERITH! SORA! IS THAT YOU?"

Sora turned around and saw the short girl run towards them with a large smile on her face. He blinked, an idea slowly processing in his mind.

"Hey! What are you guys doing in the marketplace?"

"We're just doing some preparations," Aerith responded. "How are you?"

"I'm doing okay. Some ass-kicking here and there because some guys at the bar tend to go overboard." Leon stiffened. "Aw, it's okay, Squall, I can take care of myself. But I wouldn't mind if you were there to protect me!"

"I didn't say anything. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Actions speak louder than words, my love!"

"And you're too loud," he winced.

"Speaking of 7th Heaven," Sora intervened, shooting a look at Aerith and Leon, "can you do us a favor, Yuf?"

* * *

_Click._

_Click._

_Click._

_Cli—_

"OH MY GOSH, KAIRI, TURN IT BACK!"

The redhead looked at her friend with a cautious look. "What? Was it the Spice Channel?"

"NO! NO! PRINCE OF EGYPT!" Which, ironically, could be the potential polar opposite of the Spice Channel.

"…OH SNAP!"

"…_Ask the man I once called 'Father'._"

"YES! Just in time for his arrival at Midian!"

After a few minutes of watching or so…

"…Namine, can you please tell me why we're watching something spiritual?" Kairi inquired, looking at her blonde friend.

"Because the songs are nice."

"Ah."

"…"

"…What's that song again?"

"Which?"

"Uh…look at your life…?"

Namine's eyes looked to the ceiling as if trying to look at your own brain would find the answer. Then, they brightened exceptionally. "…Look at your life—"

"THROUGH HEAVEN'S EYES!"

Suddenly, two girls were dancing in the large room, singing "lai, lai, lai" and the sorts.

Which was…definitely an odd sight for Sora Hatsu to see.

"Um…Kairi?"

They both stopped at the mention of her name, and Kairi turned around and blushed.

"S-Sora!"

Namine took this chance to look at this Sora character, and what struck her were his brilliant blue eyes.

* * *

On a rooftop, Hayner looked towards the sunset, a wind coming from the direction of the sun. The sky put on a gradient of red to a dark blue as it hid behind the horizon. His hands were on his guitar, mindlessly plucking a random melody.

"Endlessly to be true to you…" he sang softly, playing a clearer melody.

"I don't get how you guys can play guitar."

Hayner jumped (and almost let out a shout) and turned around, seeing the vision of an angel before him. How cliché, right? Well, Hayner is unconsciously that. He tries not to, but he just can't help it.

He was never that great with words.

"Olette!" He was somewhat glad that the sunset gave off orangey rays. That way, the pink on his cheeks wouldn't be as detectable. "Well, you know, us guys, we just kind of, _play_ the guitar." She hit him playfully on the shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"What? I can't enjoy a lovely sunset with you?" She sat down next to him, staring out at the sky. Suddenly, Hayner felt self-conscious. Were there any smudges on his face? Was his hair messed up? Wait, it always is. Did he look cool with his guitar? "Play a song for me."

"What?" Hayner asked, looking at her.

"Play a song for me! Something we can both sing! I haven't heard you sing."

Hayner blushed. "Maybe it's because I can't sing."

Olette chuckled. "Yes, you can. You just never try. C'mon!"

He frowned and looked at his guitar, as if he was asking it if it had any songs to suggest. "We could be in love."

The brunette froze. "…huh?"

"Take it away, Miss Saigon," Hayner said, smiling sheepishly and strummed the chord once. Olette looked at him and blinked, and she understood what he meant. **(1)**

He knocked a beat on the guitar, its sound echoing and hollow. Then, Olette started.

"_Be still, my heart  
Lately, its mind is on its own  
It would go far and wide  
Just to be near you_."

Hayner gulped and cleared his throat.

"_Even the stars  
shine a bit bright, I've noticed  
when you're close to me_."

"_Still it remains mystery_."

He stopped the music and looked at Olette tentatively.

To his surprise, she looked amazed. "Wow, Hayner! I had no idea you could sing that well!"

His heart fluttered. _But…my heart doesn't flutter! What's wrong with me!_

* * *

"So, you up to it?"

Kairi and Sora were in the kitchen together, leaving Squall, Aerith, and Yuffie with Namine to watch the Prince of Egypt. This matter was settled as private, due to the fact that Namine still wasn't aware of Roxas's royal lineage. In fact, she wasn't even aware that he was Sora's cousin in the first place until she met him.

"_Roxas?"_

_Kairi and Sora nearly fell over. "What?"_

"…_Oh, nevermind. I thought I'd like to see you react. You look like him a lot."_

"_Oh! Uh, I'm Sora, Roxas's cousin."_

_Sora stuck out his hand, and Namine shook it. _

"_Thought so! Your eyes looked the same!"_

Kairi ran a hand through her hair, and Sora was sure that if they were out in the marketplace, a lot of guys would stare. He suddenly felt protective and blushed profusely. (Unknowingly to him, Kairi had picked up that habit after being around Squall and Vincent so much.)

"It's a deal! I'm sure our group would like to perform."

Sora smiled, and Kairi saw the full extent of his cute, child-like smile. "Great! You guys won't regret it, I promise."

"Uh, Sora?" He looked up and met her blue eyes. "Is Namine invited?"

He continued to stare into her orbs, as if he was searching for an answer in her. "Since Riku and Hayner are in the band, I'm pretty sure Namine is, as well." He paused. "Do you think he would recognize Namine?"

Kairi chuckled. "Knowing Roxas, he might have trouble pinpointing her, even though her hair is super blonde and her skin is super pale."

"Okay," Sora sighed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I'm glad I'm not the only one that's thinking that."

* * *

"So, you're Squall?"

Said man turned to the blonde haired girl with an eyebrow raised. Aerith and Yuffie were busy talking animatedly near the piano.

"It's Leon."

Namine's eyes scrutinized him from his brown head, his scar, and down to his black boots. He felt slightly uncomfortable. From what Roxas had told him, this girl was an artist. Was she using her 'artistic' sense on him or something?

"When are you going to confess to Yuffie?"

He almost fell over.

"Confess? What do I need to confess about?" he asked.

"Uhp! You're getting defensive!" Namine wagged her finger like he did something bad. "Just admit it: you like Yuffie."

'I have no idea why Roxas likes you…" Leon muttered.

"What?"

He grunted, meaning he wasn't willing to tell.

Namine snorted. "Fine, you _love_ Yuffie."

"That makes it better?"

"It's all in your opinion."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Namine, the witch who can change a person's memories!"

"…Um…" Leon didn't know whether that was sarcasm or it was real. After all, she was _Kairi's_ best friend and _anything_ could happen...

Kairi and Sora came out of the kitchen, and Namine wondered casually what they were doing in there. "Leon, Aerith, time to leave," Sora said.

"I'll go with you!" Yuffie said, skipping off after them. "Bye Namine! Bye Kairi!"

Namine grabbed a hold of Leon's jacket. "Hey."

He turned around, noticing the sudden seriousness on her face.

"At least consider it, okay? I don't like being the one walking in on Yuffie when she's beating herself up just because of a guy."

Leon's eyes clouded over and he turned away.

"Do you do the same thing?"

Namine looked surprised and let go of his jacket. "What?"

"Do you beat yourself up over a guy, too?"

She didn't answer him, but Leon could tell that her silence was one of the loudest affirmations he's heard so far.

* * *

"Roxas! I'm home!" Sora called, barging into his room.

Oddly enough, he wasn't there.

"Sora."

"HOLY SHI—oh, Lulu."

The dark woman smirked in amusement when she saw the nineteen-year-old boy relax considerably from the slight shock.

"If you are looking for Prince Roxas, he is in the throne room with the Queen," Lulu said. "I shall come with you."

Sora shrugged, as he didn't think Lulu was so intimidating. Contrary to his opinion, some servants tend to avoid her.

"What's he in the room for?" he inquired as they walked.

"The Queen and the Prince are deciding which section of Kingdom Hearts that they should invite to the ball," Lulu replied. "After all, Kingdom Hearts is exceptionally big. It is a definite that all the aristocrats will be invited, but what of the commoners?"

"So…the commoners in north, south, east, or west will be invited?"

"That is correct."

"…That's kind of unfair."

"The Prince was always against a ball," Lulu started, "but he must have one and have a wife within two months because of his father's ailing status." She looked at Sora as she was about to open the tall doors. "The one thing about a monarchy is that it is always unfair, despite the many citizens of the kingdom exclaiming how happy they are with it."

She opened the doors.

* * *

"SHOES!"

"Okay, so that means the south side is out…"

Lulu pinched the bridge of her nose, and Sora's facepalmed.

Because using Rocks, Papers, Scissors to decide which portion of the kingdom that is to be invited is as professional as how an expert lawyer sounds like in his opening statement, sarcasm included.

"Hello Lulu, Sora," Rina greeted with a smile. "What is the reason for your presence?"

"I have come to inform you, your majesty," the dark girl stated, "that King Mickey of the Disney Kingdom will be arriving in two days, according to a letter addressed here."

Rina nodded. "Thank you for your time." Lulu bowed and left the room in a slight hurry.

Roxas scoffed. "She's late for a date with Wakka."

"So, did you guys decide on which portion yet?"

"Um, just one more round. North versus East."

"Roxas, honey, you're North."

Sora facepalmed again, not bothering to watch the round.

"Aww, mom, that's not fair!"

"You're just a sore loser. You've lost the past rounds."

So, it was decided. The East section, also known as the business portion of Kingdom Hearts, would be wholly invited. It helps that the commoners that are known there know how some self-control and discipline, compared to numerous problems Rina usually gets from the North section.

"Did Aerith and Leon finish their shopping, Sora?"

"Yep, they did."

"Are we hiring the same string quartet that we usually hire?"

"No, they're doing a job in Destiny Islands. We found another group."

"Oh really? Who?"

"These really talented group of young people that we found in the East section." Of course, "we" actually refers to Roxas and Sora, but Rina assumed that her nephew was talking about Aerith, Leon, and him.

She didn't catch the look that Sora and Roxas shared either.

* * *

**1 --** _Miss Saigon_ is a reference to the awesome Lea Salonga, who is most known for her role as Miss Saigon in the broadway, the singing voice of Jasmine from Aladdin and Mulan from Mulan, and etcetera.  
**2 --** The songs used in this chapter:  
When You Believe - Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston  
Through Heaven's Eyes - Prince of Egypt  
Endlessly - B4-4  
We Could Be In Love - Lea Salonga and Brad Kane (mind you, they're the singing voices for Jasmine and Aladdin XD)  
_I have no ownership of these songs_.

Well, at least it hasn't been four months since an update. CX; I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for more!

Review please! And check out Honestly! wink.


End file.
